THREE times Presentation Glasthule had to put, in two scrums within five metres of their own line in the second half of this Leinster Schools Section A junior cup final at Donnybrook yesterday. Twice St Columba's scrum half, Rory McArdle, snatched tries. Two out of three ain't bad. And for Presentation Glasthule it was disastrous.

Indeed, the alertness of McArdle married with the poor control at the base of the Glasthule scrum was the crucial difference in the end. Add to this the unnerving pressure exerted at scrum by the St Columba's front row and you have the recipe for pressurising any opposition at this set piece.

Glasthule's semi final defeat of Kilkenny College must have filled them with confidence. Nowhere was this more apparent than when the ball was in the hands of out half Brian Keegan.

His weaving runs often caused consternation in the Columbas ranks. Indeed, a try from straight running right wing, Paul James, after 29 minutes was set up by Keegan's thrust in midfield and centre Barry Plunkett's change of direction.

This restored parity. Earlier, St Columba's number eight, Ben Deacon, was in possession when a Columba's maul cleared a path to the Glasthule line. Both tries went unrewarded in as much as they were not converted.

Here was the contrast between two equal teams playing to different patterns. When St Columba's could tie in Glasthule and maul the ball at their own pace, they looked a real handful with Deacon dictating the tempo.

Alternatively, one felt Glasthule had the winning of the game out wide. And while Keegan was obviously their most talented player, he didn't seem to trust the ability of the players outside him. This was a shame, as James, Plunkett and Des Doyle were more than reasonable outlets.

Keegan's first half injury time dropped goal gave Glasthule the edge at the halfway stage, but with flanker Kristian Douglas devouring the lineout feed at number two, St Columba's pressed Glasthule back on their heels.

McArdle first identified the weakness at the Glasthule scrum in the 36th minute and although Glasthule regained the lead through Keegan's only penalty, McArdle snatched his second, all important try when the ball unexpectedly squirted out from another Glasthule put in with only five minutes left.

St Columba's coach, Chris Gibson, was understandably delighted. "Everybody contributed to this win and I thought the forwards and scrum half (McArdle) were tremendous. Twice we went behind and twice we pulled ourselves back."