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Castleknock College's Ian Birmingham, Luke Callinan and Ciaran McCarrick celebrate after the game. Laszlo Geczo/INPHO
Report

Castleknock overcome Roscrea to seal Leinster Senior Cup quarter-final spot

They join Blackrock’s conquerors Gonzaga in the final eight.

Castleknock College 24
Cistercian Roscrea 17

CASTLEKNOCK AVENGED THEIR league semi-final loss to Roscrea, joining Gonzaga in the Leinster Senior Cup quarter-finals, after victory at Energia Park this afternoon.

This was always going to be a real dust-up as Castleknock came hunting payback and they got off to a fine start when Conor Duggan and Ian Bermigham set Fergus Stanley up for the opening try, Louis McDonagh converting in the seventh minute.

This was quickly remedied by Roscrea’s continuity and a smart move to the front of a lineout for Martin Fallon to make it 7-5 in the 14th minute.

The swinging fortunes continued as Stanley’s straightening of the line caught Roscrea flat-footed in defence for his second try, McDonagh’s conversion taking it to 14-5 in the 25th minute.

The next score would be crucial and ‘Knock put together a clever move, hinging on prop Ben Griffin’s handling for centre Conor Dunne to sprint clear, McDonagh converting for 21-5 in the 34th minute.

Castleknock looked completely comfortable with their lot, McDonagh adding a penalty when Roscrea’s number eight Fionn McWey-Fingleton was yellow-carded in the 44th minute.

They looked home and hosed with an extra man at this point as Roscrea struggled to contain their direct runners.

However, the Black & Whites had a cure for their ills in just going all-out, taking the fight forward to make a game of it when second-row Fallon, aided and abetted by prop Shane Connolly, barged to the left corner to give Roscrea life.

fionn-mcwey-fingleton-with-ian-birmingham-and-luke-callinan Roscrea's Fionn McWey Fingleton with Ian Birmingham and Luke Callinan of Castleknock. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

The return of McWey-Fingleton was another boost, the number eight making up for lost time.

They applied enough pressure to draw a yellow card out of prop Ben Bislin and flanker Oisin McCloskey showed up out wide to provide their third try, out-half Dylan Keane converting from the left in the 65th minute.

The impossible suddenly looked on as Castleknock made mistakes and Roscrea made ground through McWey-Fingleton until the ball was lost and the game too.

Scorers for Castleknock College: F Stanley (2 tries), C Dunne (try), L McDonagh (pen, 3 cons).

Scorers for Cistercian Roscrea: M Fallon (2 tries), O McCloskey (try), D Keane (con).

ROSCREA: Manus Heenan; Sean Cullen, Shane Mallon, Conall Bird, Adam Dunne; Dylan Keane, Sam Murphy; Sean Frawley, John McKeon, Shane Connolly, Jack Gilligan, Martin Fallon, Bill Burns (capt), Oisin McCloskey, Fionn McWey-Fingleton.
Replacements: Cillian Lawlor for Cullen 26 mins; Jamie Ryan for Murphy 51 mins; Adam Nash for Gilligan 61 mins.

CASTLEKNOCK: Alex Watson; Oran Kirby, Fionn Gibbons, Conor Dunne, Jake Rooney; Louis McDonagh (capt), Conor Duggan; Ben Bislin, Alex Creedon, Ben Griffin, Luke Callinan, Stephen Callinan, Fergus Stanley, Ciaran McCarrick, Ian Bermingham.
Replacements: Conor Mahon for Duggan, Alec Birnie for S Callinan 67 mins; Gearoid Quinn for Bermingham 69 mins.

Referee: C Roche, Leinster Branch.

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