Blackrock advance to last four after brushing battling Wesley aside

Leinster Junior Cup - Blackrock College 39 Wesley College 0:BLACKROCK carried out a rudimentary whitewashing of a brave Wesley side during intermittent snow falls in this Leinster Schools' Junior Cup quarter-final at Donnybrook yesterday.

There was evidence that Wesley would be able to stay with Blackrock for, at least, part of the contest given their 10-8 beating of Belvedere in the first round and Blackrock’s less than convincing 10-3 close-run-thing against King’s Hospital.

This was soon put to bed as the Williamstown boys went about putting the issue beyond doubt in the first quarter. Prop Ryan Murphy made metres whenever he chose to, claiming the first try in the fifth minute.

Then, full-back James O’Neill bamboozled the Wesley cover with a chip and gather and fancy footwork for the second. Smart offloading out of the tackle by out-half Gavin Tynan and O’Neill allowed right wing Eoin Conlon to put the foot down in the 16th minute.

It was all one-way traffic despite the superb work of Wesley blindside Jurgen Steinbach and teak tough centres Rob Bracken and Andrew Walsh. Still, Murphy was on hand for his second and replacement Jonathan Cassidy went over unopposed for a 27-0 lead at the break.

Centre Stephen Lawton was all action and he cut loose from 40 metres just after the interval, scrumhalf Charlie Rock converting from beneath the posts.

From there on, Wesley put together the phases that kept Blackrock out of the danger zone without ever having enough gas in the tank to threaten at the other end of the field.

However, Lawton was in merciless form, always looking for an opening.

He found one such moment to release Conlon for the seventh and final try in injury-time to set-up a semi-final tilt at either St Michael’s or Castleknock.

BLACKROCK COLLEGE:J O'Neill; E Conlon, I Kinsley, S Lawton, C Donnelly; G Tynan, C Rock; O Jager, D Fortune, R Murphy, G Fenn, C Murray, R Tyrrell, D O'Flynn (capt), R Crotty. Replacements:J Cassidy for Tynan 27 mins; T Cooke for Fortune 32 mins; M Colgan for Murphy, P Aylward for Tyrrell both half-time; R Hughes for Fenn 49 mins; G Ringrose for Rock 61 mins; S Coughlan for Donnelly 64 mins.

WESLEY COLLEGE:P Barrett; H Cresswell, R Bracken, A Walsh, K Jameson; T Hawe, A Copeland; L Gillespie, S Pollock, D Gillespie, D Hunt, E Parfrey, J Steinbach, R White, O Brooks (capt). Replacements:J Nicholl for Barrett half-time; A Verso for Brooks 50 mins; C Douglas for Hunt 58 mins; K Sweeney for Pollock, A Cole for Copeland both 64 mins; L Madeley for Hawe 63 mins; B Canning for Gillespie 68 mins.

Referee:K Beggs (Leinster Branch).