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News
St. Michaels College v Clongowes Wood
College SJ - March 2007
18-03-2007
Gavin Cummiskey at Donnybrook - Irish
Times Article
Mon, Mar 19, 2007
Leinster Senior Cup final/St Michael's
College 6 Clongowes Wood 0:Champions at
last. It's been a long time coming but
St Michael's have finally earned the
right to stand tall beside former
winners of the Powerade Leinster Schools
Cup. And man, did they earn it.
This was a horrible afternoon for any
sporting event. There was a bitter chill
in the air, soon accentuated by a
downpour, then 15 minutes of sleet and
snow.
Some of the 6,700 jammed into Donnybrook
couldn't handle the elements, escaping
indoors where they could view the
slugfest on television.
They missed the game's only two scores.
In last year's final St Michael's winger
Noel Reid missed a long-range kick to
win the competition. Still a fifth-year
student, Reid landed the two penalties
in a two-minute period that ultimately
delivered the Cup to St Michael's for
the first time.
Reid, who also missed an earlier
long-range effort, and Clongowes
fullback David Kearney were off target
with further penalties before half-time,
and Reid was short with another from
distance six minutes into the second
half. That was it for scoring
opportunities.
It was a frustrating match not helped by
referee Ken Henley-Willis constantly,
albeit consistently, penalising the
attacking team for infringing at ruck
and maul, whether for not staying on
feet or hands on the deck.
This has been a constant of schools
rugby for several years. The only time
players were allowed time at the
breakdown this season was when Alain
Rolland adjudicated the first-round,
34-8, victory of St Michael's over St
Gerard's. Rolland allowed common sense
to prevail.
Yesterday's referee was, in fairness,
applying the letter of the law in
difficult conditions, but some
indulgence might have allowed a cohesive
and therefore more entertaining
spectacle.
St Michael's came into the game with
several injury concerns but all made it
through.
Clongowes were less fortunate, their
influential tighthead prop Jack
O'Connell forced off after 12 minutes
with a damaged right shoulder. He was a
significant loss.
Clongowes enjoyed their best period
after St Michael's had taken that 6-0
lead. After seven pick-and-goes, to
bring them into the opposing 22, they
were awarded Kearney's solitary penalty.
It drifted right.
They continued to rely on their
forwards, particularly in the maul,
until it became painfully obvious St
Michael's would not yield like St Mary's
and Terenure.
After a campaign when they had
consistently spurned the expansive
approach, the Clongowes three-quarters
looked uncomfortable when moving the
ball wide midway through the second half
of the final. Errors ensued when they
tried to put Kearney, the best attacker
in Leinster schools, into space.
The St Michael's back row shackled him
when he received ball coming back inside
- a transparent tactic used throughout
the season. The one time he fended off
Reid and looked to break clear, the St
Michael's captain, Conor Cleary, tracked
across to empty him into touch.
The Clongowes captain, Trevor Conneely,
had been another banker to get over the
gain line - until yesterday. Ian Leonard
and Alex Byrne made some bone-crunching
hits on the number eight.
Openside Rajan Reilly also deserves a
mention for his consistently aggressive
performances, as does number eight
Patrick Mallon, who was clearly playing
through the pain barrier.
En route to the final St Michael's had
pulled away from other opposition in the
last quarter, but they were not allowed
to do so here.
But considering this battle took place
in the middle third of the field,
Clongowes spurned a gilt-edged attacking
platform when a penalty was reversed 20
yards from the St Michael's line.
That's it really. It was rugby from
memory. The fear of error ensuring the
sensible approach became the only
option.
The most dramatic incident came when a
barrier collapsed on the terracing side
where most of the St Michael's past
pupils were situated. Furtunately, no
one was badly hurt.
These former students will have relished
the occasion. You have to lose to
appreciate success. None more so than
coach Greg McWilliams (class of 1996),
while his forwards guru Mark McDermott,
formerly in charge of the Irish
under-21s, certainly earns the lion's
share of praise.
It requires a special team to win this
competition. Conor Cleary led them up
the Bective Pavilion steps for the
presentation on a unique day.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 26 mins:N Reid pen,
3-0; 27 mins:N Reid pen, 6-0.
ST MICHAEL'S COLLEGE:M O'Malley; N Reid,
R Pratt, C Cleary (capt), P Brophy; S
Malone, F Mehigan; I Leonard, J Daniels,
M Kelly; C O'Sullivan, S Mahony; A
Byrne, R Reilly, P Mallon.
Replacements:K McKenna for O'Sullivan
(58 mins), R Pigot for Mahony (69 mins),
A Kealy for Malone (71 mins).
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE:D Kearney; M
Sheehy, T Fletcher, S Kennedy, S Lennon;
C Wade, M McLoughlin; C Spelman, T
Burns, J O'Connell; N Delehanty, N
Mullen; B O'Keeffe, T Joyce, T Conneely
(capt). Replacements:M Collis for
O'Connell (12 mins), R Timlin for
Delehanty, C O'Callaghan for Sheehy
(both 67 mins).
Referee: K Henley-Willis(ARLB).
© 2007 The Irish Times |
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