Temple dig deep

At the end of the Section A competition, this game may turn out to be the one that turned Mount Temple into serious contenders. They were made to dig deep by Newpark at Templeville Road yesterday. When they did, they found the reserves to battle through to a quarter-final meeting with Presentation Glasthule.

Newpark must have been confident at the break. They had taken all that Temple could throw at them into a cold breeze and came out 10-8 ahead. Right-wing Adam Ozmin got in for a try and Declan Griffin kicked the conversion and a penalty to ruffle Mount Temple's big, abrasive pack of forwards.

Actually, it suited the winners to play into the second-half wind. They kept the ball among players like Niall O'Carroll and Keith Ellis in the tight, and found centre David Handcock a willing runner in the centre. Indeed, he made the vital breakthrough in the 46th minute, going over near the posts for Jeff Moore to convert.

Kiely showed his footballing skills, despite more than a sneaking suspicion of offside, to go over for his second touchdown in the 50th minute. Newpark's insistence on running an eminently kickable penalty straight away came back to haunt them at the death.

Out-half Adam Roche forced his way over beside the posts, only for scrum-half Griffin to rush the conversion. He opted for a drop goal but missed to the right.

Further, Newpark were awarded a penalty 27 metres out in front of the posts at the end. But the lack of a cool head on two previous occasions coast them dearly.

Scorers: Mount Temple: R Kiely 2 tries; D Handcock try; J Moore pen, con; Newpark: A Ozmin, A Roche try each; D Griffin pen, con.

Mount Temple: S Cairns; R Kiely, D Handcock, I Kelly, S Armstrong; J Moore, T Casey; L Murray, G Mercer, D Hickey; C Cummins, C Lynch; J Fitzachary, N O'Carroll, K Ellis. Replacements: K O'Mahony for Armstrong (half-time).

Newpark CS: G Griffin; A Ozmin, T Crowe, B McDaid, A Byrne; A Roche, D Griffin; G Weston, G Ryan, K Law; L Jenkinson, S Apied; C De Chenu, C Apied, D Hanifin. Replacements T Bennett for Byrne (49 mins).

Referee: D O'Mahony (ARLB).