PAUL NEARY WAS the hero this afternoon as his 61st minute penalty guided St Mary’s College towards their first Leinster Schools Senior Cup title since 2002 in a replayed encounter against Blackrock College.
Seven points in front with the final whistle approaching when these two sides met at Tallaght Stadium six days ago, Mary’s were denied a first success at this grade in 24 years when ‘Rock fired back with a last-gasp try from Cian McCarron and a subsequent conversion by Luke Coffey.
The teams were once again tied heading towards the home stretch in this compelling rematch, but it was the confident right boot of Neary that ultimately edged Mary’s over the line in dramatic fashion.
There was just under three minutes gone on the clock when Mary’s broke the deadlock in this contest with a penalty from out-half Neary, but this early lead proved to be short-lived. A powerful sixth-minute attack from ‘Rock was rounded off by a powerful finish from inside centre Bernard White and following a routine Coffey conversion, ‘Rock were now four points to good.
Yet just as they had done to considerable effect throughout last Tuesday’s drawn affair, Mary’s issued a strong response to this set-back. While they just fell short of crossing over off a series of penalty advantages, Mary’s finally breached the opposition whitewash when hooker Joseph Christle added to his try in the original fixture by applying the finishing touches to a line-out maul on 12 minutes.
St Marys' Joseph Christle celebrates after scoring his side's second try. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
A wayward conversion from Neary left the Mary’s lead at the bare minimum and having dug deep in defence to force an error off another set-piece move by their opponents, ‘Rock regained the ascendancy moving into the second-quarter.
Advertisement
Following a superb run from deep, James Browne offloaded out wide for winger Alex Aschenbrenner to jink his way over the line in fine style. An outstanding bonus strike by Coffey had ‘Rock back in the driving seat, but Justin Vanstone’s charges suffered a double blow when flanker Conal Power and the aforementioned Aschenbrenner were both sent to the sin-bin in the space of just two minutes.
In the short spell when his side had a two-man advantage, the influential Christle broke free to dive over for his second try of the game in the left-corner and this time Neary was able to find the range with a touchline conversion.
Despite being under immense pressure from Mary’s on each occasion that they forced their way into the attacking half of the pitch, ‘Rock fired back once again with a well-worked try from full-back Cael McCloskey.
This unconverted effort looked set to propel Blackrock towards a four-point interval cushion, but Mary’s had other ideas. With the clock in the red, team captain Andrew McGauran drove over the whitewash for a try that was supplemented by another Neary bonus kick.
This offered Mary’s a 22-19 buffer at the end of a pulsating opening period, though it took some excellent pressure from their defence to force a knock-on from Browne when the ‘Rock outside centre had the try-line within his sights just six minutes after the resumption.
In comparison to what went before it, the third-quarter of this latest showpiece between these two south Dublin rivals was far cagier in nature.
St Marys' Sean Thornton tackles Rhys Keogh of Blackrock College. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
There was a growing sense that every score was now going to be crucial and thanks to a successful close-range penalty from Coffey, the sides were once again inseparable (22-22) in the 51st minute.
This ramped up the tension in the packed out Donnybrook venue with either team looking capable of pushing on for victory. ‘Rock did enjoy an extended spell inside the Mary’s ‘22’ after securing an attacking line-out, but their stubborn counterparts dug deep to eventually wrestle back possession.
This helped Mary’s to establish territory of their own and when Neary was presented with yet another opportunity at goal inside the closing 10 minutes of the action, he made no mistake from an awkward left hand-angle.
For the second week running, the Rathmines side were within reach of a first senior cup triumph in more than two decades. On this occasion, however, they held firm in a pressure-filled finale to earn their sixth senior schools crown.
Paul Neary celebrates after winning. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
Scorers for St Mary’s College:
Tries – Joseph Christle 2, Andrew McGauran
Conversions – Paul Neary [2 from 3]
Penalties – Paul Neary [2 from 2]
Scorers for Blackrock College:
Tries – Bernard White, Alex Aschenbrenner, Cael McCloskey
Conversions – Luke Coffey [2 from 3]
Penalties – Luke Coffey [1 from 1]
St Mary’s College
Josh Kelly; Christopher Maguire, Conor Cantwell, Daniel Tourish, Nicolas Sheehan; Paul Neary, Jack Fogarty; Thomas Quigley, Joseph Christle, David Kenny; James Whitty (Robert Flaherty ’65), Max Egan (Eoghan Brady ’44); Eoin Farrell, Andrew McGauran, Sean Thornton (Rory Noonan ’50).
Blackrock College
Cael McCloskey (Aiden Vetjens half-time); Alex Aschenbrenner, James Browne, Bernard White, Rhys Keogh (Paddy Scally ’68); Paddy Scally (Stephen Moloney ’63), Luke Coffey; Louis Magee (Lorcan Golden half-time), Harry O’Neill, Ben Guerin (Luka Kelly ’65); George Eggars, Cian McCarron; Conal Power, Patrick Agnew (Donnacha Walsh ‘44), Geoffrey Wall (Lucas Hill ’42).
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
5 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Neary the St Mary's hero as they win first Leinster Schools Senior Cup title in 24 years
St Mary’s College 25
Blackrock College 22
Daire Walsh reports from Energia Park
PAUL NEARY WAS the hero this afternoon as his 61st minute penalty guided St Mary’s College towards their first Leinster Schools Senior Cup title since 2002 in a replayed encounter against Blackrock College.
Seven points in front with the final whistle approaching when these two sides met at Tallaght Stadium six days ago, Mary’s were denied a first success at this grade in 24 years when ‘Rock fired back with a last-gasp try from Cian McCarron and a subsequent conversion by Luke Coffey.
The teams were once again tied heading towards the home stretch in this compelling rematch, but it was the confident right boot of Neary that ultimately edged Mary’s over the line in dramatic fashion.
There was just under three minutes gone on the clock when Mary’s broke the deadlock in this contest with a penalty from out-half Neary, but this early lead proved to be short-lived. A powerful sixth-minute attack from ‘Rock was rounded off by a powerful finish from inside centre Bernard White and following a routine Coffey conversion, ‘Rock were now four points to good.
Yet just as they had done to considerable effect throughout last Tuesday’s drawn affair, Mary’s issued a strong response to this set-back. While they just fell short of crossing over off a series of penalty advantages, Mary’s finally breached the opposition whitewash when hooker Joseph Christle added to his try in the original fixture by applying the finishing touches to a line-out maul on 12 minutes.
A wayward conversion from Neary left the Mary’s lead at the bare minimum and having dug deep in defence to force an error off another set-piece move by their opponents, ‘Rock regained the ascendancy moving into the second-quarter.
Following a superb run from deep, James Browne offloaded out wide for winger Alex Aschenbrenner to jink his way over the line in fine style. An outstanding bonus strike by Coffey had ‘Rock back in the driving seat, but Justin Vanstone’s charges suffered a double blow when flanker Conal Power and the aforementioned Aschenbrenner were both sent to the sin-bin in the space of just two minutes.
In the short spell when his side had a two-man advantage, the influential Christle broke free to dive over for his second try of the game in the left-corner and this time Neary was able to find the range with a touchline conversion.
Despite being under immense pressure from Mary’s on each occasion that they forced their way into the attacking half of the pitch, ‘Rock fired back once again with a well-worked try from full-back Cael McCloskey.
This unconverted effort looked set to propel Blackrock towards a four-point interval cushion, but Mary’s had other ideas. With the clock in the red, team captain Andrew McGauran drove over the whitewash for a try that was supplemented by another Neary bonus kick.
This offered Mary’s a 22-19 buffer at the end of a pulsating opening period, though it took some excellent pressure from their defence to force a knock-on from Browne when the ‘Rock outside centre had the try-line within his sights just six minutes after the resumption.
In comparison to what went before it, the third-quarter of this latest showpiece between these two south Dublin rivals was far cagier in nature.
There was a growing sense that every score was now going to be crucial and thanks to a successful close-range penalty from Coffey, the sides were once again inseparable (22-22) in the 51st minute.
This ramped up the tension in the packed out Donnybrook venue with either team looking capable of pushing on for victory. ‘Rock did enjoy an extended spell inside the Mary’s ‘22’ after securing an attacking line-out, but their stubborn counterparts dug deep to eventually wrestle back possession.
This helped Mary’s to establish territory of their own and when Neary was presented with yet another opportunity at goal inside the closing 10 minutes of the action, he made no mistake from an awkward left hand-angle.
For the second week running, the Rathmines side were within reach of a first senior cup triumph in more than two decades. On this occasion, however, they held firm in a pressure-filled finale to earn their sixth senior schools crown.
Scorers for St Mary’s College:
Scorers for Blackrock College:
St Mary’s College
Josh Kelly; Christopher Maguire, Conor Cantwell, Daniel Tourish, Nicolas Sheehan; Paul Neary, Jack Fogarty; Thomas Quigley, Joseph Christle, David Kenny; James Whitty (Robert Flaherty ’65), Max Egan (Eoghan Brady ’44); Eoin Farrell, Andrew McGauran, Sean Thornton (Rory Noonan ’50).
Blackrock College
Cael McCloskey (Aiden Vetjens half-time); Alex Aschenbrenner, James Browne, Bernard White, Rhys Keogh (Paddy Scally ’68); Paddy Scally (Stephen Moloney ’63), Luke Coffey; Louis Magee (Lorcan Golden half-time), Harry O’Neill, Ben Guerin (Luka Kelly ’65); George Eggars, Cian McCarron; Conal Power, Patrick Agnew (Donnacha Walsh ‘44), Geoffrey Wall (Lucas Hill ’42).
Referee: Jack MacNeice (Leinster Rugby Referees).
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Blackrock Champions Leinster Rugby St Mary's