SCHOOLS RUGBY: LEINSTER SENIOR LEAGUE DIVISION 1A SEMI-FINAL
Newbridge College suffer cruel defeat
NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE……………………………22
GONZAGA COLLEGE……………………………….24
By Daire Walsh
NEWBRIDGE College endured heartbreak at Energia Park last Tuesday afternoon in the Leinster Senior League Division 1A semi-final – losing out to Gonzaga College in the most dramatic of fashions.
Niall Smullen’s side looked set to hold out when they led their south Dublin rivals by the slenderest of margins (22-21) during the closing stages of an eventful contest. However, thanks to a late penalty courtesy of scrum-half Jack Connolly, it was Gonzaga who progressed to the forthcoming decider.
2014 champions Newbridge were knocked out by Gonzaga at the same stage 12 months ago – a difficult opening proving to be their downfall in the end.
Eager to avoid a similar fate on this occasion, the south Kildare outfit secured a number of defensive turnovers during the early exchanges. They met an initial stern resistance from the Gonzaga defence, until fly-half Jack Hannon superbly broke through a gap to claim a deadlock-breaking try in the 12th-minute.
Sam Cahill was off-target with his maiden effort at the posts and this kept Gonzaga within touching distance of their opponents. After Harry Colbert kicked to the right-corner on the first-quarter mark, hooker Hugo Fitzgerald levelled matters with a try that was supplemented by a Connolly conversion.
While this was undoubtedly a set-back for Newbridge, they subsequently moved back into the ascendancy. The impressive Hannon instigated their latest venture into the Gonzaga ’22’ and combative flanker Conor McGroary executed a powerful drive over the whitewash.
A Cahill bonus strike offered them additional breathing space, before David O’Sullivan ensured it was a half to remember for Newbridge. The ball was transferred at pace towards the right-flank, where O’Sullivan was on hand for a simple five-point finish.
This was followed by another outstanding Cahill effort off the kicking tee – lifting Newbridge’s interval lead to 12 points (19-7). This kept them on course for a place in the showpiece league affair, but the sin-binning of Cormac Stopes on 37 minutes left them severely hamstrung.
In his brief absence, Newbridge leaked a brace of converted tries, which left them staring into a 19-21 deficit. Number eight Jack Barry touched down for Gonzaga off a five-metre scrum and lock Jack Coolican also completed an extended attack underneath the posts.
Newbridge were much more compact in defence once they were restored to their full compliment and they reclaimed a slight advantage through a Jack Doyle place-kick 13 minutes from time.
It was turning into an arm wrestle between both sides as the action wore on, despite the game’s free-flowing nature up to the third-quarter mark.
Newbridge breathed a sigh of relief as Connolly’s 35-metre penalty at a left-hand angle drifted marginally past the target. The dynamic number nine gained a reprieve on the stroke of 70 minutes, though, when he made no mistake from a virtually identical position.
This left Newbridge with precious little time to address the balance and they ultimately fell short at the end of a robust encounter.
NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE: Sam Cahill; David O’Sullivan, Marcus Kiely, Donal Conroy, David Higgins; Jack Hannon, Jack Doyle; Rob Scully, Cormac Stopes, Luke Rigney; Diarmaid Mangan, Oisin Halpin; Jordan Nolan, Conor McGroary, Muiris Cleary.
Replacements: Bill Kavanagh, Peter Leavy, Geoff McNeilis, Patrick O’Flaherty, Mark Moynihan, Cormac King, Tom Sheedy, Jamie Gaire.
GONZAGA COLLEGE: Conor Hennessy; Arthur Henry, Frank O’Grady, Karl Morgan, Brian Barron; Harry Colbert, Jack Connolly; Luke Hammond, Hugo Fitzgerald, Ronan Shaw; Liam Tyrrell, Jack Coolican; Colm Kirby O’Briain, Tom Cullen, Jack Barry.
Replacements: Henry Godson, Sean Grimley, Tom Barry, Conor Carson, Oscar Rogers, Max Colgan, Jamie McNulty, Oisin O’Leary-Deane.