Gonzaga College 22
Clongowes Wood College 19
Sean Farrell reports from Donnybrook
THIS GROUP OF Gonzaga players had already delivered their fair share of enthralling matches and brilliant performances in this Cup run, but they had to dig deep to deliver something special and squeeze beyond Clongowes to reach the Leinster Schools Senior Cup final for the first time in their history.
Loosehead Henry Godson, the powerful carrier-in-chief for the Ranelagh, school delivered on his promise with a muscular hat-trick of tries to tip the balance of a knife-edge contest.
Tom Cullen challenges Hugh Lonergan for a line-out. Source: Gary Carr/INPHO
The kicking, from tee and the hands of scrum-half Jack Connolly, was critical too, and he constantly kept his pack delving for more effort, even when the Kildare school looked to be finding a rhythm to pull away.
Clongowes’ last final was in 2014, and their hopes of bridging that gap were built on defence today, be it through Luke McDermott fiercely clattering his opposite wing Brian Barron as Gonzaga went wide early, or Ryan McMahon taking names in the tight exchanges.
However, once the ball hit the deck, Gonzaga — led by the excellent Jack Barry and Jack Coolican — were consistently more accurate at the breakdown and earned their reward through referee Dermot Blake’s whistle.
After being penalised under Gonzaga’s posts on their first attack, Clongowes returned with interest. Mark Galvin showed his searing pace on the left and linked smartly with Hugo Phillips to send the centre over for the opening try.
After 27 minutes, a string of penalties brought the first breach in the Clongowes defence. A line-out set the platform for a set of ‘Zaga pick-and-drives, culminating in Godson barrelling over the try-line. Before the half was out, the loosehead grabbed a second.
Henry Godson celebrates a try with Karl Morgan. Source: Gary Carr/INPHO
Barron again provided an electric option out wide for the Dublin 6 men, and this time he evaded capture on the gainline. His ankles were snagged 30 metres from the line, but Connolly again showed great ability to read the back-field, chipping towards the try-line where John Maher was hit and driven behind his own line by the relentless lock Liam Tyrell. The five metre scrum was all the invitation ‘Zaga’s pack needed to notch a 12-5 half-time scoreline.
Clongowes emerged from the half-time huddle with a much sharper-looking edge and confidence undoubtedly fuelled by their second-half demolition of CBC Monkstown in the last round. They attacked the gainline with more intent and shifted the point of attack effectively, before forcing a try from Noone.
A brilliant touchline conversion from David Wilkinson made it level pegging at 12-apiece, and the 10 was soon kicking his side seven ahead as Luke McDermott rounded off another incisive attack by cutting inside and planting on the try-line despite Barry’s tackle.