Terenure College progressed to the quarter-final of the Leinster Schools Senior Cup with a well-earned victory against St Mary’s College at Donnybrook.

In the opening game of this year’s competition, a stunning Patsakorn Kidd try – supplemented by Henry Roberts’ eight-point haul off the kicking tee – ensured ‘Nure got the better of their arch rivals.

After they weathered an early Mary’s storm, Dan Parkinson’s side broke the deadlock through Roberts’ 15th-minute penalty.

This coincided with the sin-binning of opposition flanker Johnluc Carvill and upon his return, fly-half Dan McEvoy’s close-range penalty was off-target.

Buoyed by this let-off, ‘Nure moved 10-0 ahead courtesy of Kidd’s blistering converted try on the half-hour mark. Facing the ignominy of an early exit, Mary’s – coached by former Munster centre Johne Murphy – responded with a much-improved third-quarter.

Following a series of five-metre drives, lock Fionn O’Sullivan powered over the ‘Nure whitewash for a badly-needed score. While a McEvoy bonus strike was wide of the mark, the Rathmines outfit remained in contention after Roberts fired past the target at the opposite end.

Terenure remained in control of their own destiny, though, and Roberts split the posts on 58 minutes to edge them a step closer to the last-eight.

Despite the admirable persistence of their opponents, it was enough to secure a spot in the next phase.

Scorers for Terenure College: P Kidd try, H Roberts 2 pens, con.

Scorers for St Mary’s College: F O’Sullivan try.

TERENURE COLLEGE: P Kidd; D Byrne, M McGettrick, H Roberts, C McElwaine; G Morgan, L McNamara; L Vaughan, A Dunne, S McCoy; T Cadell, A Deegan; C Hayes, T Ruane, P Larkin.

Replacements: C Harpur for Ruane (40), J Townsend for Cadell (46), A Byrne for Dunne (54), J Keegan for Larkin (64), S Daly for Dunne (66), A Ciobanu for D Byrne (68), J Whelan for Morgan (70).

ST MARY’S COLLEGE: J McSharry; A Martin, M McEvoy, M Whelan, E Carey; A McEvoy, E Franklin; E Massey, C Walsh, M Connell; I Wickham, F O’Sullivan; J Nolan, J Carvill, N Hurley.

Replacements: R Nolan for McSharry (h-t), S Devereux for Franklin (46), D Leane for Carvill (54), D Nulty for Connell (58), P McDermott for Wickham (60), A Mulvihill for Massey, J Tynan for Martin (both 61), J Coolican for Whelan (64).

Referee: A Cole (IRFU).