SCHOOLS RUGBY – LEINSTER SENIOR CUP FIRST ROUND
Newbridge fail to perform on big stage
NEWBRIDGE COLLGE 7
ST MARY’S COLLEGE 24
Daire Walsh
THERE was disappointment at Donnybrook last Wednesday afternoon for Newbridge College, who exited the first round of the 2017 Leinster Schools Senior Cup at the hands of St Mary’s College.
Leinster U18 star Kevin Kyne claimed a late try for Niall Smullen’s side, but courtesy of earlier scores from Ruairi Shields, Niall McEniff and Adam McEvoy, St Mary’s booked their place in the quarter-finals with 17 points to spare.
Newbridge were eager to make amends for last year’s loss against eventual winners Belvedere College, but with Naas player/coach (and former Newbridge student) Johne Murphy part of the Mary’s coaching set-up, it was always likely to be a tough challenge.
Indeed, Mary’s were on top of possession during the early moments of the contest, and although Newbridge centre Kermon Fitzgerald attempted to break out of defence, he was subsequently halted by the physical south Dublin rearguard.
After securing a 14th-minute penalty inside the Newbridge ’22, Mary’s opted for touch, and looked set to break the deadlock when they developed a strong line-out maul. However, when the play was switched to the right-flank, Newbridge were relieved to see opposition flanker Sean Heeran knocking the ball on five metres from the line.
The wet conditions meant that the ball was generally quite slippy in the opening period, but thanks to strong work by No 8 Patrick Ryan (who has featured for the Leinster U19s this season), Newbridge remained competitive as the half wore on.
Daragh Ryan was unfortunate to lose possession inside the Mary’s half during an encouraging passage of play, but it came as no surprise when the Metropolitans broke the deadlock in the 29th-minute.
Mary’s kept Newbridge on their toes with some patient build-up, and following a neat off-load by fly-half Tom Murray, winger Conway touched down on the right-hand side.
This was supplemented by a superb Shields conversion, and this ensured that Newbridge were facing into a seven-point deficit when the action resumed. It was certainly far from a foregone conclusion at this stage, but a blistering start to the third-quarter from Mary’s ultimately proved costly for the two-time champions.
Their full-back Eamonn Byrne almost broke over three minutes into the half, but when the ball was transferred out towards Shields, he grounded under intense pressure. He was wide of the mark from his second effort off the kicking tee, but a rampant Mary’s maintained their momentum from the restart.
Murray was at the heart of their best attacking play, and he once again provided the assist for an expertly-crafted try by prop (and captain) McEniff on 42 minutes. Shields was off-target for a second consecutive occasion from the resulting bonus kick, but although there was still plenty of rugby left to play, Newbridge were left with a mountain to climb.
Enda Dowling, Larry Kelly, Patrick O’Brien and Eimhin Conroy were all introduced in an attempt to offer a fresh spark to the play, and a lung-bursting break by Kyne almost yielded a much-needed score in the 58th-minute.
Mary’s were never in danger of letting their slip unfortunately, and replacement scrum-half Adam McEvoy drove over underneath the posts with three minutes remaining on the clock. It was turning into a damage limitation exercise as the final whistle approached, but on a day when St Mary’s were firing on all cylinders, Newbridge did at least gain some solace in the form of a superb individual try by Kyne on the left-wing – which was followed by an exceptional two-pointer from Luke Maloney.
NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE: Tom Connolly; Jonathan Deane, Kermon Fitzgerald, Daragh Ryan, Kevin Kyne; Ben Caulfield, Luke Maloney; Ben Howlett, Robert Wynne, Niall Stapleton; Theodore Hovenden Kelly, Dylan Morrissey; Cian Prendergast, Harry O’Neill, Patrick Ryan.
Replacements: Enda Dowling for D Ryan (h-t), Larry Kelly for Howlett, Patrick O’Brien for O’Neill (39), Eimhin Conroy for Deane (52), Cian Murphy for Connolly (59), Joshua Peacock for Wynne, Dominic Doyle for Stapleton, Oisin Halpin for Prendergast (all 68).
ST MARY’S COLLEGE: Eamonn Byrne; Hugo Conway, Craig Kennedy, Myles Carey, Ruairi Shields; Tom Murray, Daragh McDonagh; Niall McEniff, Richie Bergin, James Coolican; Conor McElearney, Liam Corcoran; Sean Heeran, Harry McSweeney, Ronan Watters.
Replacements: Niall Hurley for Heeran (44), Alex Dix for Conway (54), Heeran for Watters (59), Ciaran O’Meara for Coolican, Ian Wickham for McElearney, Adam McEvoy for McDonagh (all 61), Gavin O’Brien for Bergin, George Hassett for McEniff, Brian MacMahon for Carey (all 67).
Referee: Brian McNiece (Leinster Rugby Referees).