Roscrea show defensive mettle to see off Monkstown

Adi Donavan got his side into the lead, but James Reynolds’ accuracy off the tee kept the Dubliners in touch.

Cistercian College Roscrea 12

CBC Monkstown 6

– Daire Walsh reports from Castle Avenue

CISTERCIAN COLLEGE ROSCREA held off a spirited second-half fightback from CBC Monkstown to book their place in the next round of the Leinster Schools Senior Cup.

A brace of penalties by James Reynolds forced Monkstown to within touching distance of the 2015 winners, but courtesy of opening period tries from Adi Donavan and Finbarr Crowley, CCR ultimately progressed to the last-eight draw.

Roscrea started with six players that featured in last year’s final defeat to Belvedere College, and they took a deserved lead in the 24th minute.

After the play was spread out to the left-hand side, impressive centre Donavan spotted a gap inside the Monkstown 22 and accelerated through to touch down. This score was followed by a successful Tadhg Bird conversion, and the boys from the Offaly/Tipperary border subsequently enhanced their advantage just shy of the half-hour mark.

Crowley crossed over after pouncing on a loose ball, and this unconverted effort ensured that Roscrea held a 12-0 cushion at the midway point.

Pieter Swanepoel’s charges looked primed for victory, but Monkstown got their account up and running with a close-range Reynolds place-kick three minutes after the restart.

Roscrea continued to pose an attacking threat as the half wore on, but thanks to another routine three-pointer by the reliable Reynolds, Monkstown cut the deficit to six with 12 minutes remaining.

The south Dubliners applied significant pressure on their opponents in the closing stages of the contest, but with tighthead prop Michael Milne displaying outstanding form, Roscrea ensured that their try-line remained unbreached.

Scorers

Cistercian College Roscrea 

Tries: Adi Donovan, Finbarr Crowley

Conversions: Tadhg Bird [1 / 2]

Penalties: Tadhg Bird [0 / 2] Robert Enraght-Moony [0 / 1]

CBC Monkstown

Penalties: James Reynolds [2 / 2]

CISTERCIAN COLLEGE ROSCREA: Tadhg Bird; Ben Hyland, Philip O’Shea, Adi Donavan, Paul Keane (Jay Culleton ’58); Conor Kelly (captain), Finbarr Crowley; Josh Wycherley (Lucas Culleton ’15), Tom Byrne (Jerry Cahir ’51), Michael Milne; Ryan Lomas, Neal Moylett; Cathal Walsh, Robert Enraght-Moony.

CBC MONKSTOWN: James Reynolds; Conor Newman, Cameron Watson, Darragh Forster (Harry Shaw ’38), Luke Sweeney; Sean Power, Shane O’Hanrahan; Max Read, Mark Theunissen (Conor Byrne ’58), Callum Kavanagh; Robert Ivers, Eoin Vaughan (Gavin Tinney ’69); Robert Doyle, Zach Sattar, Eoghan Clarke (captain).

Referee: Helen O’Reilly (Leinster Rugby Referees).