A STIRRING second half display from Old Belvedere left holders UCD dazed and defeated in this frantic Under-19 McCorry Cup final replay, at Stradbrook, yesterday.
The students started brightly, out-half Emmet Farrell giving them a foothold in Belvedere territory. Facing into the stiff breeze, the eventual winners seemed incapable of repelling a rampant UCD. Farrell scored penalties in the 10th and 22nd minutes. Sandwiched in between, prop Jamie McKeown crossed the line for a try which was converted by Farrell.
Approaching the break, UCD held a 13 point cushion. To have had any reasonable chance in the second period, Belvedere needed a score.
Sniping scrum-half Damian Ward provided some badly needed inspiration when squeezing over from a five-metres scrum. Centre Barry O'Brien converted. However, former schools international Farrell kicked a further penalty to leave Belvedere 16-7 behind.
The second half settled down into a fascinating struggle with both sets of forwards refusing to buckle. A Billy Treacy penalty on 55 minutes trimmed UCD's advantage and when Farrell's hasty chip out of defence was blocked by the onrushing Brian Davitt, 10 minutes later, UCD were in trouble. The flanker gathered possession and made for the line. Although stopped short, UCD were penalised for killing the ball. With the students retreating slowly, Ward fed hooker George Eyres who crossed near the corner for an unconverted try.
Then, Eyres stole a strike against the head on the UCD 22 metres line for out-half Stuart Cushion to slot over a drop goal. Suddenly, Belvedere were 18-16 in front. Not to be outdone, UCD struck back from a Farrell penalty, but Belvedere were really working hard and when Farrell was penalised for handling the ball on the ground, O'Brien kept his nerve to strike what proved to be the decisive score.
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