Mullen inspires amazing comeback

Leinster Schools Senior Cup:Clongowes Wood 33 Newbridge College 20  WITH HALF an hour of this Leinster Senior Cup game gone, a Clongowes victory over Kildare rivals Newbridge seemed the unlikeliest of eventualities. However, thanks to a brilliant second-half comeback, inspired by Gerard Mullen's scintillating performance, it is exactly what occurred.

With the interval approaching, the winners were 17-0 in arrears and staring at defeat. However, Mullen stopped the rot with a penalty just before the break but two key events changed the trend of the game. The sin-binning of Newbridge centre Darragh Hennebry four minutes into the second half was crucial and during his absence, Clongowes added 15 points to claim the lead.

Mullen was central to all these scores, having been relocated from fullback to outhalf in an astute tactical switch at the interval. He punished Hennebry’s initial transgression by kicking the penalty and within minutes embarked on a scorching run from inside his own half that finished in a spectacular solo try in the corner.

Almost as impressive was the conversion from the touchline and one sensed the comeback was on. That feeling was confirmed when Mullen spotted some space behind the Newbridge defence and kicked into it. From there, it was a foot-race and Clongowes winger Aaron Thomson came out on top to add another five-pointer.

Suddenly Clongowes were in front. With Hennebry back in their ranks, Newbridge stemmed the flow briefly but when second row Shane Kennedy drove over under the posts after another concerted effort from the pack, it was curtains for the early leaders.

It had looked so good for Newbridge early on as Diarmuid Carr and Sam Coughlan-Murray raced in for tries, with Conor Brown adding the conversions as well as a penalty. Though Brown briefly gave his side hope with a 61st minute penalty, an immediate response from Mullen, followed by a try from replacement Robert Hynes, saw Clongowes home.

CLONGOWES WOOD:G Mullen; S MacAuley, D Cullen, H Kennedy, A Thomson; D Quirke, B Glynn; G Hoban, D McGuinness, J Mannu; A Hoban, S Kennedy; R Timlin, W Larkin, J Dilger. Replacements: M Maxwell for Quirke (ht); C Gilsenan for Larkin (53); I Prendiville for G Hoban (60); R Hynes for Kennedy (68); R Horan for Mannu (68).

NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE:J Gray; G Burns, S Coughlan-Murray, D Hennebry, D Carr; C Brown, S Sutton; D Cowen, C Thompson, J Treacy; M Duke, R Mangan; R Skehan, R O'Connor, E Burke. Replacements: J Higgins for Skehan (50); A Nolan for Duke (60); T Doyle for Coughlan-Murray (63).

Referee:B Montayne