SCHOOLS RUGBY: LEINSTER SENIOR CUP QUARTER-FINAL
Prendergast holds his nerve to send Newbridge College into Senior Cup semi-final
NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE……………………….10
KILKENNY COLLEGE……………………………8
By Daire Walsh
SAM Prendergast was the match-winner for Newbridge College at Energia Park (Donnybrook) last Wednesday, his 62nd-minute penalty squeezing the south Kildare outfit past the challenge of Kilkenny College in a tense Leinster Schools Senior Cup encounter.
Johne Murphy’s charges were staring down the barrel of a third consecutive quarter-final reversal when they trailed 8-0 at the break in the Metropolitan venue. Yet when push came to shove, they dig deep to book a last-four spot.
Their opponents in the penultimate round will the competition’s reigning champions St Michael’s College. In their two games to date, the Ailesbury Road outfit have accumulated 101 points and leaked just three – a penalty in their resounding victory over 2019 finalists Gonzaga College in Donnybrook seven days ago.
While Newbridge will be rank outsiders to progress from that meeting, they can take great solace from the heart and desire they have displayed thus far. In their opening stage tussle with CBC Monkstown, they endured a difficult start to the contest before eventually securing an emphatic 45-7 triumph.
As a consequence of that impressive first day out, they were high on confidence for their return to competitive action. Nevertheless, Kilkenny were battle-hardened by their dramatic 13-10 success at the expense of Wesley College and were expected to offer a sterner resistance than the aforementioned Monkstown.
Newbridge had started the game brightly, moving the ball through the hands to good effect. Prendergast opted for touch off a penalty on the left-hand side and it almost paid rich dividends for the two-time champions.
After they broke at pace off the base of an ensuing scrum with just four minutes gone on the clock, winger Donal Conroy was close to crossing over. However, Kilkenny held their nerve to force a turnover and any time Newbridge attempted to build momentum, the resolute Noreside defence was able to soak up pressure.
A series of stoppages disrupted the flow of the game and Kilkenny’s Joshua Treacy made way for Christopher Reynolds on 13 minutes. In the absence of the injured blindside, Pieter Swanepoel’s men gradually grew in confidence.
Following an extended spell of attacking pressure, fly-half Charlie Tector split the uprights off a routine place-kick. Though it was only a minor speed bump for Newbridge, they suffered a further blow off the resulting restart.
Having picked up possession deep inside his own half, Kilkenny outside centre Matthew Hodgins embarked on a lung-bursting run that produced a sensational try on the right-flank. Tector’s touchline conversion was wide of the mark and their opponents breathed a sigh of relief when his 33rd-minute penalty also drifted off-target.
Their encouraging opening notwithstanding, Newbridge had struggled to impose their attacking game on their Marble County rivals. That changed dramatically on the resumption, though, and it was skipper Marcus Kiely who once again stepped up to the plate.
The dynamic midfielder had gotten his side up and running in the Monkstown game with a try in first-half stoppage-time and he spotted a gap through the heart of the Kilkenny defence to touch down in the 44th-minute.
Prendergast added the extras to leave the bare minimum between the teams and it was anticipated that Newbridge would push forward from this point. Kilkenny simply refused to give in, however, and their defence was holding firm against the rising tide of their Lilywhite counterparts.
Newbridge introduced Lucas Berti Newman, Benjamin Watson and Luke Dunleavy off the bench as they searched for a vital spark inside the closing-quarter. Their persistence was finally rewarded just past the hour mark.
Shooting at a left-hand angle just outside the Kilkenny ’22’, Prendergast split the posts in clinical style to propel Newbridge into the ascendancy for the very first time. After being within touching distance of a semi-final for large stretches of the proceedings, Kilkenny were suddenly in a position where they had to chase the game.
There was no faulting their endeavour in the dying embers of the play but with Peter Leavy, Conor McGroary and Donough Lawlor leading the charge, Newbridge College ran down the clock to keep their 2020 title aspirations alive for at least another day.
Newbridge College now face St Michael’s College in the semi-final and the schools’ junior team will try emulate the senior team’s progress when they also play St Michael’s in their quarter-final on 26 February.
NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE: John Shanahan; Donal Conroy, Marcus Kiely (Sam Cahill ’64), Shane Fata, David O’Sullivan; Sam Prendergast, Cormac King; Peter Leavy, Geoff McNelis, Zia Ahmed; Patrick O’Flaherty, Diarmuid Mangan; Mark Dennis (Harry Masterson ’69), Conor McGroary, Donough Lawlor.
Replacements: Lucas Berti Newman for Fata, Benjamin Watson for Leavy (both 40), Luke Dunleavy for McGroary (57), Sam Cahill for Kiely (64), Harry Masterson for Dennis (69).
KILKENNY COLLEGE: Daniel O’Neill; Greg Edogun, Matthew Hodgins, Ryan Strong, Adam Strong; Charlie Tector, Joshua Coyle; Scott Neale, Darragh O’Reilly, Craig Chamney; Noah Pim, Jake Caldbeck; Joshua Treacy, Ross Jacob, Joshua Akanj Murphy.
Replacements: Christopher Reynolds for Treacy (13), Harry Dawson for O’Reilly (53), Liam Foot for Coyle, Fiach O’Byrne for Murphy (both 54),
Referee: John Carvill (Leinster Rugby Referees).