St Columba's rue missed chances

Gonzaga College..13 St Columba's ..13Fortune occasionally does not favour the brave as St Columba's College discovered in heart-breaking fashion at Lakelands. The Section A winners tantalised their supporters with thoughts of an upset and had their coach John Farrelly worn to a frazzle yet came up agonisingly short yesterday.

St Columba's played with a passion and at times skill that suggested they could embarrass their opponents, particularly in the first half. Playing into a strong wind, they took the game to Gonzaga, pilfering the advantage with a wonderful individual try from centre Philip Black and then defiantly keeping their line intact for the entire 35 minutes.

Ultimately, though, their shortcomings after the interval denied them the win.

Trailing by just a point but now favoured by the elements, they crossed for a converted try five minutes after the re-start to lead 12-6.

There should have been only one gameplan: long, diagonal, wind-assisted kicks to force Gonzaga to chase the match from a starting point in the shadow of their posts.

But St Columba's wouldn't be the first team to relax mentally, oblivious to the protestations of their coaching team. It would be churlish to chastise their efforts, but in the second half it was only when Gonzaga had edged in front again that they roused themselves to reproduce the quality of rugby they had shown prior to the interval.

The only element of luck associated with Gonzaga's victory was that they finally managed to snatch that all-important score in the second half through scrumhalf Greg Cooney. Twice players knocked on when over the line, first number eight and captain Kevin McLaughlin and then left wing Alan O'Donnell.

They also spurned several other glaring try-scoring opportunities, despite showing the patience to bide their time and work the opportunities. They were also a touch over-reliant on Irish schools number eight McLaughlin; he's an excellent player but drew tacklers because he was the predictable option from most set plays.

The winners should laud the performance of outhalf Michael Boland, who kicked a superb, 40-metre penalty in the first half and finished with eight points in a perfect performance with the boot.

Gonzaga made the more assured start. An excellent catch and drive from a lineout saw the pack rumble into the St Columba's 22 before the move petered out. They stayed there for the next few minutes, but from an attacking lineout scrumhalf Cooney threw a poor pass that was snapped up on the fly by St Columba's captain Black.

The centre had about 80 metres to run, not necessarily in a straight line, pursued by four defenders. But he chose his lines of running beautifully to evade all concerned.

St Columba's could have had two further tries had number eight Henric Gervais and Alastair Musgrave given the scoring pass rather than being clobbered in the tackle.

Boland kicked two penalties to give his side a 6-5 interval lead, only for the outstanding Gervais to charge 30 metres, completed with a subtle change of angle, to score under the posts. Michael Quinn converted.

With every passing opportunity spurned and the St Columba's line leading a charmed existence at times, it seemed Gonzaga were going to miss out. But from a tap penalty scrumhalf Cooney was driven over close to the posts. Boland added the extra points.

To Gonzaga a clash with St Gerard's in the next round, but to St Columba's the plaudits for an exceptional effort.

GONZAGA: M Ryan; R O'Connor, T Toomey, A Peacock, A O'Donnell; M Boland, G Cooney; M O'Brien, R O'Byrne, B Gahan; E Tuite, G Dunne, A Brennan, K McLaughlin (capt), P Hennessy. Replacement: N Morris for Gahan (half-time).

ST COLUMBA'S: R McManus; A Musgrave, P Black (capt), B Cork, D Manning; M Quinn, A Dean; D Morrisroe, C Henk, P Temple, A McArdle, J Mannion, O Rowland, H Gervais, J Horsey. Replacement: T Goodbody for Morrisroe (63 mins).

Referee: N Brannigan (Leinster).