Blackrock see off Belvedere to stay on course for five in a row
Blackrock College 25
Belvedere College 14
Leinster Schools Junior Cup
Daire Walsh
Blackrock College will face St Michael’s College in the final of the Leinster Schools Junior Cup, following their victory against Belvedere College at Donnybrook yesterday.
‘Rock are chasing their fifth consecutive title at this grade, and they broke the deadlock with an unconverted score by flanker Adam Simpson.
This was followed by a seventh-minute try from lock Mark Morrissey, and courtesy of a subsequent John Campbell five-pointer, ‘Rock brought a commanding 15-0 cushion into the break.
The gap between the schools (who will face each other in Friday’s senior decider) increased three minutes into the second half when Liam Heylin dotted down on the left-hand side, but Belvo finally opened their account with a hard-earned try from tighthead prop Hugh Flood.
However, ‘Rock full-back Shane Murray crossed over on 50 minutes from a neat pass by Adam Dixon, and even though Belvo claimed a stoppage-time try through replacement scrum-half Peter O’Farrell, it only proved to be a consolation for the north Dublin side.
Scorers for Blackrock College: A Simpson, M Morrissey, J Campbell, L Heylin, S Murray try each.
Scorers for Belvedere College: H Flood, P O’Farrell try each, S Murphy 2 cons.
BLACKROCK COLLEGE: S Murray; J Campbell, S Small, B Brownlee, M Lowey; A Dixon, M Cullen; BM Murphy, C O’Carroll, S Barron; M Morrissey, H O’Malley; A Simpson, J Culhane, L Heylin.
Replacements: D Moloney, H Cullen, M Wood, J Byrne, P O’Connor, M Moloney, S Lowe, P McGowan.
BELVEDERE COLLEGE: S Murphy; E Farquharson, H Murray, F O’Byrne, E MacAdaimh; D Hawkshaw, J MacNiece; EC Foley, A Beatty, H Flood; B Bolger, J Ross; E Rutledge, E O’Neill, H McPeake.
Replacements: J Gleeson, D McCarthy, S O’Casey, A Moran, D O’Driscoll, P O’Farrell, D O’Grady, T Connolly.
Referee: K Beggs (LRR).