Resilient Roscrea take final step

SCHOOLS RUGBY LEINSTER AND MUNSTER SENIOR CUP, SEMI-FINALS: Cistercian, Roscrea 18 St Gerard's 14:WITH 16 minutes remaining in this Leinster Schools Cup semi-final this reporter stopped taking notes to watch as matters took their natural course.

Turns out no more scribbling was required. The match was poised on a knife-edge, at 18-14, with St Gerard’s monopolising possession if not territory as they valiantly attempted to atone for earlier mishaps to take what many felt was their rightful place in the final against the mighty Clongowes on March 17th.

Cistercians of Roscrea plainly disagreed. Or to be more accurate: the midfield partnership of Shane Layden and captain Conor Finn had no intention of letting the likes of Stevie Crosbie or Jett Desmond conjure a route past them.

Same story unfolded up front where St Gerard’s superb number eight for the past two campaigns, Jack Conan, was halted in his tracks. The Roscrea forwards queued up to chop down the big man.

On first-half evidence alone, Cistercians deserve to progress to a first final since 1999. They certainly look better equipped to handle the ferocity of the Clongowes challenge.

Roscrea knew their set piece could win them this game as St Gerard’s, despite an excellent rugby programme, do not possess the numbers to churn out front rowers, who were really flankers in disguise here. The profit was mobility but the loss showed at key moments.

Following an early Duggan penalty, right wing Cormac Brennan finished off an impressive sequence of continuity where hooker Denis O’Dwyer was prominent.

It took 10 minutes before St Gerard’s came to life. Conor Shiel burst over halfway kicking a grubber to create a four-man sprint to the try-line. Desmond won the race but with O’Dwyer in close pursuit the ball was knocked on. Roscrea survived.

Layden made it 13-0 on 15 minutes when his decision to test the defence paid off. After handing off his marker in midfield and beating two more would-be tacklers, he crossed for a fine individual try.

From Crosbie’s restart Conan soared highest to win back possession, leading to a penalty that allowed Crosbie get St Gerard’s on the board.

The next exchange had a massive impact on the contest. Crosbie, the Irish Schools outhalf, was impressively pulling the strings, neatly putting lock Jack Prendergast into open country. Prendergast’s offload sent flanker David Symes rushing towards the posts but a try was denied by an unbelievable tackle from Philip O’Dwyer.

St Gerard’s scrumhalf Conor O’Rourke arrived and held nothing back in ensuring Roscrea bodies got off the ball. As he attempted to throw what seemed a try-scoring pass, a Roscrea hand emerged to slap it out of his grasp. The referee, having consulted his touch judge, gave the penalty to Roscrea, on their own line, and O’Rourke was cautioned.

Roscrea cranked up the pressure with O’Dwyer the hooker (they are brothers), Rory Moloney and Finn all wading into the tackle area to wrestle turnover ball.

But it was Philip O’Dwyer who proved the hero; just as he was in the quarter-final defeat of Terenure. The fullback broke a tackle before passing to Cormac Brennan whom he shadowed to take the return offload and dive over for a well-worked try that made it 18-3.

The insurance points never arrived, however, allowing Crosbie to kick St Gerard’s back into contention but there followed three wayward and uncharacteristic shots at goal in the second-half – two penalties and the conversion of Dylan Simmonds’ try as the Bray school took advantage of Moloney’s sin binning.

Regrets will linger for St Gerard’s as they had two, arguably three, chances to win.

The last few agonising minutes were a joy to behold if you are a grizzled old forward. In a competition noted for brothers this season, number eight Colin Moloney repeatedly picked and jammed, inch by inch, to nowhere in particular as Roscrea held onto possession as if their lives depended on it.

But considering what’s coming next, this performance won’t be anywhere near good enough. At the outset Clongowes were priced as overwhelming 11/8 favourites while Roscrea could be got at 80/1 but the underdogs now possess the precious gift of belief allied to two quality strike runners in O’Dwyer and Layden. Now all they need is the perfect 70 minutes.

SCORING SEQUENCE:1 min: B Duggan pen, 3-0; 5 mins: C Brennan try, 8-0; 15 mins: S Layden try, 13-0; 19 mins: S Crosbie pen, 13-3; 32 mins: P O'Dwyer try, 18-3; 34 mins: S Crosbie pen, 18-6. 37 mins: S Crosbie pen, 18-9; 49 mins: D Simmonds try, 18-14.

CISTERCIAN COLLEGE, 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 Moloney; A Henderson, E Quirke, C Moloney. Replacements: R Mooney for E Quirke (48 mins), O Heffernan for C Farrell (52 mins), M Fitzgerald for C Brennan (58 mins).

ST GERARD'S SCHOOL:D Simmonds; C Shiel, J Desmond, R Martin, S Smith; S Crosbie (capt), C O'Rourke; S King, R O'Brien, O O'Neill; H Wojnar, J Prendergast; S Hackett-Delaney, D Symes, J Conan. Replacements: J Roberts for S Hackett-Delaney (71 mins).

Referee:J Carvill (Leinster).