Blackrock College 22-17 Clongowes Wood College
BLACKROCK COLLEGE REMAIN the kings of Leinster Schools rugby after they clinched their 68th Senior Cup title against Clongowes in the RDS this afternoon.
Rock captain Nick Timoney ploughed over for the winning try with seven minutes remaining, sparing his side’s blushes after they let a 14-point advantage slip against a valiant Clongowes.
After seeing an early try chalked off for a forward pass in the build-up, Blackrock ran in the game’s opening score through Conor Oliver in the 20th minute before Hugo Keenan added a second try eight minutes later to leave them 14-0 up.
Full back Alan Hughes got Clongowes on the board with a penalty on the stroke of half-time and it was their captain Fergal Cleary who led by example with a try six minutes after the restart.
Clongowes then edged into a 17-14 lead when Cillian Burke fed Cian O’Donoghue to score but Rock drew level with a penalty 15 minutes from time, ensuring a grandstand finish.
It was all set up for one player to make himself a hero and it was Timoney, Blackrock’s inspirational number eight, who clinched the win.