RUGBY LEINSTER SCHOOLS' JUNIOR CUP FIRST ROUND: Gonzaga 11 King's Hospital 0A TRY from lock Peter Herlihy and two penalties from outhalf Conor Gowing ensured Gonzaga's passage through to the quarter-finals at Lakeland's Park yesterday. While Gonzaga had the better of the argument territorially, it took them until the 65th minute for Gowing to kick his first penalty and create the two-score cushion that was always likely to be decisive.
They had held a 5-0 lead from the seventh minute when secondrow Herlihy flashed around the front of a smartly-worked lineout to accelerate into the left corner.
From then on, King’s Hospital struggled for position and possession, their number eight Matthew Bursey battling alongside hard-tackling centre William Potterton to stem the tide. However, Hospital just didn’t have the weapons around the outside to truly test the winners’ defence. Gonzaga had two dangerous centres in captain David Meenan and Ross McKeever allied to the strike threat of full-back Barry Goulding. Once Gowing’s penalty went over, he quickly followed with another from the left to seal victory.
KING'S HOSPITAL: R Lawless; R Olusa, D Smith, W Potterton, E McKeon-Silke; D Courtney, R Sharkey; C Petit, J Arundell, C Corr, S Boland, S Hannigan, S Kane, J O'Reilly, M Bursey (capt). Replacements: S Dowds for Sharkey, J Perry, for O'Reilly both (55 mins), R O'Connor for Hannigan (66 mins).
GONZAGA COLLEGE:B Goulding; R Fenton, D Meenan (capt), R McKeever, S Crowe; C Gowing, N Peters; K White, C Maguire, D Coyle, S Holly, P Herlihy, P Ryan, J McNamara, H McVeigh. Replacements: R Layden for McVeigh 8 – temp, for Herlihy (55 mins), E Keane for Goulding (56 mins), A Keenan for MacNamara (64 mins), C Cosgrove for White (67 mins).
Referee: R O'Flynn (Leinster Branch).
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