This was easy for St Columba's strolled to victory over De La Salle, Dundalk, at the quarter-final stage of Section A of the Senior Cup at Belfield yesterday. The tries started coming in the 10th minute when number eight Ben Deacon went over from two metres out for Peter Taggart to convert. This gave St Columba's a 10-0 lead. Taggart had already struck a fifth-minute penalty and it was to prove a fruitful day for him as he came away with a personal tally of 32 points that included three tries. His first came in the 22nd minute following a break by centre Henry Hoare. This put St Columba's into safe territory at 24-0, scrum-half Hugh Passmore having scored their second try in the meantime.
When Dundalk came out for the second half, they knew the game was beyond them. Damage limitation was not their strong point and tries from Andrew Kidd, Max Waldburg, Jonathan Moore (two), Taggart (two) and Rory McArdle proved the point.
Scorers: St Columba's - P Taggart 3 tries, penalty, 7 conversions; J Moore 2 tries, M Waldburg, A Kidd, H Passmore, R McArdle, B Deacon tries.
St Columba's: M Willis; M Waldburg, H Hoare, P McKinley, P Taggart; A Kidd, H Passmore; J Moore, N Flynn, J Galvin, K Campbell, M Fortune, A Colhoun, R McArdle, B Deacon. Replacement: Z Maenpaa for Kidd (61 mins).
De La Salle Dundalk: M McGeown; J Gray, K Walsh, B Dwyer, P Carolan; M J McKevitt, F Grant; J Gorham, F McNally, N Puyane, C McCabe, K McCabe, G McConville, K McConville, M Dorian. Replacements: N McShane for Puyane (40 mins), J Farrelly for Gorham (44 mins), P Duffy for McNally (52 mins).
Referee: R Acheson (ARLB).
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