Duggan 's boot keeps Roscrea in control

Cistercian Roscrea 16 Castleknock College 3:OUTHALF BILL Duggan kicked Cistercian Roscrea through to a quarter-final tie against the winners of toda's clash between Terenure and Gonzaga.

They put a second-half stranglehold on Castleknock, keeping vaunted Ireland Under-18 Schools openside Jack O’Neill relatively under control at Ashbourne RFC yesterday.

The difference came in the game-plans. Roscrea started well into a strong wind, forcing a penalty which Duggan sent through the posts in the fifth minute. And Castleknock ruined their chances by insisting on keeping the ball in hand when it should have been nursed down into the left corner.

Instead, they offered up targets for the Roscrea three-quarter line to devour, O’Neill once threatening to blow the game open when he arrived late into the line.

Castleknock number eight Joe O’Brien tied it up in first-half injury-time when a defender flew into the side of a ruck. It looked a long way short of what they needed.

And so it turned out. Duggan was the architect behind a cohesive pack, led by number eight Colin Moloney and speedy hooker Denis O’Dwyer.

Duggan penalties in the 57th and 63rd minutes put Roscrea in control, and he converted the 68th-minute try by centre and captain Conor Finn.

CISTERCIAN ROSCREA: P O’Dwyer; C Brennan, S Layden, C Finn (capt), M Mellotte; B Duggan, G Gallagher; G Fallon, D O’Dwyer, C Farrell, A McGrath, R Maloney, A Henderson, E Quirke, C Moloney. Replacements: O Heffernan for Farrell (61 mins); R Mooney for Henderson (63 mins); M Fitzgerald for Finn (69 mins).

CASTLEKNOCK COLLEGE: M Mellett; S Carroll, T Shields, T Farrell, E Quinn; D Henry, R Gleeson; M Briody, D Barnes, O McKevitt, C O’Riordan (capt), P Nalty, S Condon, J O’Neill, J O’Brien. Replacements: J McCormack for Shields (h-t); D Perry for Barnes, M Bennett for McKevitt, A Mu’azzam for Condon (all 48 mins); A Boswell for Carroll (58 mins).

Referee: S Gallagher (Leinster Branch).