Section A favourites Mount Temple blasted their way through the sturdy resistance of St Conleth's College in the second round of the Leinster Schools Junior Cup at Merrion Road yesterday.
The winners had gone through the pre-season unbeaten, and it was easy to see why once they got their act together.
St Conleth's out-half, Barry Rogerson, had three penalty chances to give them an early boost, but all failed to find the target. Mount Temple's full-back, Paul Ferns, compounded the disappointment by striking his first penalty attempt in the 20th minute.
Flanker Mick Finglas got over for the first of his two tries in the 23rd minute, with Ferns once again finding his range from the conversion. Rogerson did hit a 28th-minute penalty to leave his side trailing 10-3 at the break. But, Mount Temple only improved as the game went on.
Tries from Finglas, free-running centre Dan Butterly and replacement Cian Scott-Keogh sealed a well-earned win. The losers did manage a second-half try from second row Coclough Doran, converted by Rogerson. But that was all it would be.
Scorers: Mount Temple - M Finglas 2 tries, D Butterly and C Scott-Keogh try each, P Ferns 2 pens, 3 cons. St Conleth's - C Doran try, B Rogerson pen and con.
Mount Temple: P Ferns; A Bugnandeen, D Butterly, P Brennan, A Louth; J Gavin, R Maybury; I Ellis, R McMillen, J Kennedy, D Butler, N Leonard, T O'Mahony, M Finglas, D Ffrench. Replacements: S Miller for Ellis (halftime), C Scott-Keogh for Brennan (50 mins), B Hanlon for Butler, D Quirke for Bugnandeen (both 56 mins).
St Conleth's: C Deane; C O'Connor, C Nolan, V Gough, P Cronin-Burbridge; B Rogerson, B O'Donnell; S Hynes, A McCarthy, M Kinsella, C Doran, P Sinscough, D Royce, S McCormack, I Elliott. Replacement: P Maguire for Nolan 44 mins.
Referee: D Laide (ARLB).
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