Colaiste Iognaid 34
Calasanctius College 8
Favourites Colaiste Iognaid continued their march towards another Connacht Tribune Schools’ Senior Cup title with a comfortable victory over Calasanctius Oranmore at Newcastle.
The current champions proved superior in all areas of the pitch with their greater physicality causing Oranmore problems in the loose, and their secure set piece ensuring plenty of possession.
Having introduced rugby just eight years ago, Calasanctius have made great strides. However the draw did not fall kindly for the famed basketball nursery, pitted against the reigning champions for a second year at this quarter-final stage. A light side, Calasanctius looked to play an expansive game, and in winger Sean Mannion, they had a pacey youngster capable of scoring tries. However their failure in the set piece proved costly, as time after time they failed to find their man in the line-out, while some poor kicking out of hand also proved costly.
As expected they started full of hunger and were worthy of their opening three points when outhalf Jonathan Daly converted one of two early penalty chances.
However the Jes were not long in responding with winger Anthony O’Loughlin firing over a 10th minute penalty to level matters, and 11 minutes later the champions crossed for the first of five tries. It came from a counterattack after Calasanctius failed to find touch, and O’Loughlin, Eoin Griffin, and Colin Conroy all combined before sending winger David McDonough over in the left corner.
The Jes capitalised on another mistake from Calasanctius in the line-out, and from the resulting five-metre scrum centre Griffin cut through the midfield cover to leave the scores 15 - 3 at the break.
Despite their best efforts, Calasanctius could not make the breakthrough early enough in the second half to turn the game around. The Jes gained in confidence and dictated the play, particularly after Colin Conroy crossed within two minutes of the restart.
Conroy also had a big hand in the fourth try which O’Loughlin scored and converted, and it was not long before Griffin added the fifth.
To their credit Calasanctius never gave up, and the eager Sean Mannion produced an individual effort on the counter-attack, kicking ahead and chasing up for a fine try at the end.
In the junior cup Calasanctius College enjoyed a 34-5 second-round victory over Rice College, Westport, while Clifden overcame Marist by 10 -5. St Joseph’s College, Galway, were due to play Sligo in the senior cup quarter-final yesterday.
Colaiste Iognaid: T Flaherty; A O’Loughlin, C Conroy, E Griffin, D McDonough; C Murphy, D O’Meara; B Madden, E Shaughnessy, N O Maolain; B Kennedy, C Qualter; C Murphy, S Conneely, D Phelan. Replacements: J O’Donnell for Phelan, 47 mins; N Murphy for O’Loughlin, 53 mins; D Hickey for Flaherty, 53 mins.
Calasanctius College: D Furey; S Mannion, C Killilea, R Burke, C Dunne; J Daly, G Grealish; C Craughwell, A Breen, D Maher; K Folan, C Harty; C Burke, N Mooney, F Shelley. Replacements: K Kilcoyne for Mooney, 37 mins; G Brennan for Breen, 52 mins; S McInerney for Killilea, 60 mins; C Lawlor for Harty, 60 mins.
Referee: E Dormer (CBIRFU ).
