Marist College 24 

Sligo Grammar School 19

Kevin Egan reports from the Dexcom Stadium

THE NATURAL GRAVITATIONAL pull that has produced several classic encounters between Marist College and Sligo Grammar School in recent years was again in evidence this afternoon at the Dexcom Stadium, where Marist College looked by far the sharper and more potent threat, and yet they were pushed right to the wire by the Grammar before their back-to-back senior schools’ cup success was confirmed.

Ireland U19 international Andrew Henson returned the fray after an eight-week absence with a hamstring injury and a explosive 20-metre burst that required three Grammar School tacklers to bring him to ground proved that he was ready to make a strong impression in his third successive cup final.

Alongside the devastatingly effective centre partnership of Oisín O’Donoghue and Darragh Glennon, Henson did exactly that – yet for all the stunning breaks, combination moves and offloads from this immensely talented Marist backline, it fell to the school’s front row to deliver all three tries.

Sligo Grammar School, who upset the odds against the Marist in the league final earlier this year, needed to produce a performance that was all about survival, and finding ways to stay in the game.

Alastair Hewson touched down in the right corner to give the Sligo boarders a perfect start and the box kicks and defensive pressure that they brought to provincial headquarters could easily have drawn any number of turnovers out of a different opponent.

Marist’s handling was flawless however, and they got their reward for their complete dominance of the possession battle when Reuben Colleran’s lineout take, followed by a typically incisive combination move from O’Donoghue, Glennon and Henson, set up Adam Peter Murphy for a close-range finish.

Had the first half been two minutes shorter, the course of this Cup final could have run very differently. Instead Ciarán West emerged from the bottom of a pile of bodies with a score in an attack just before the break, and a yellow card for Logan O’Neill Markey before the interval meant further pressure on Sligo Grammar for the start of the second half.

Sure enough, Paul O’Sullivan’s incisive run back on a long kick and Darragh Murray taking play up to five metres out set up West for another try, and once Henson’s conversion was delightfully hooked in from the left wing to make it 21-5, Grammar’s bid for a Senior and Junior Cup double appeared to be slipping away.

However these two schools have pushed each other on to great heights since Covid while taking a stranglehold on the Connacht scene, and without ever getting their own running game going, Sligo Grammar forced their way back into contention.

Andrew Deegan came within inches of scoring, James McGettrick did get there shortly afterwards, and by now players like Cathal Moffatt, Aron Martin and Alastair Hewson were forcing the issue up front, slowing down Marist rucks and preventing those line-breaking runs, even if the turnover count remained incredibly low.

Even after cutting the lead back to one score through Aron Martin’s try and Ben O’Connor’s conversion, Grammar continued to live on the edge and a marginally forward pass call kept them in the game just when it looked like O’Sullivan was about to explode down the right touchline.

Henson struck the post with a penalty that could have put two scores between them for another near miss, but that didn’t matter ultimately as Marist held on to complete two-in-a-row, matching the achievement of their 2012 and 2013 sides, the first of which had Robbie Henshaw as part of an equally impressive back division.

Scorers for Marist College - Adam Peter Murphy, Ciarán West (two) tries; Andrew Henson one pen, three cons

Scorers for Sligo Grammar - Alastair Hewson, James McGettrick, Aron Martin tries; Ben O’Connor two cons

MARIST COLLEGE: Andrew Henson; Paul O’Sullivan, Oisín O’Donoghue, Darragh Glennon, Andrew Cotton; Darragh Murray, Owen Egan; Ciarán West (Donnacha Dullea 57), Adam Peter Murphy, Peter Daniel Sunny (Hugo Hannon 30); Joe McSharry (James Kelly 64), Peter Bourke; Rueben Colleran, John Finnan, Kyle Byrne.

SLIGO GRAMMAR SCHOOL: James McGettrick (Seán Cashell 67); Kelvin Kalu, Bobby Hanrahan (Luke O’Connor 70), Andrew Deegan, Logan O’Neill Markey (Matthew O’Grady 57); Ben O’Connor, Andrew Ryan; Cathal Moffatt, William Draper (Arran Symmons 70), Mark Bradley (Sam Carnegie 41); Seán Cashell (Ryan Burrows HT), Owen McNamara (Evan Barrett O’Neill 61); Aron Martin, Alistair Hewson, Ronan Mullan.

Referee: Shane Tuohy.