RUGBY: VINNIE MURRAY CUP
NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE 43 SANDFORD PARK 10
NEWBRIDGE College are just one game away from qualifying for the Senior Cup after they defeated Sandford Park last week to move into the Vinnie Murray Cup semi-final.
The two finalists of that competition will earn a place in the last 16 of the Senior Cup and Newbridge’s fate will be decided once they meet King’s Hospital next week. Manager Jon Newsome admits that making the Senior Cup is the target of every school.
“Everybody wants to be in the last 16. We didn’t qualify out of the league so the Vinnie Murray Cup is there to have a run at but the ultimate goal for every school I’m sure is to make the last 16 of the Senior Cup and be in with a shout. We’re not looking ahead, everything is being geared towards Wednesday but at the same time it’s good to know that a good result on Wednesday will mean we go into the cup proper. I’m sure King’s Hospital feel the same,” he said.
“We’ve played them several times over the years and it’s always a tough game against King’s Hospital, every year they put up a good fight. They are a tough team to break down, they are well disciplined and well drilled.”
Newbridge College clinched the upcoming meeting with King’s Hospital after a 43-10 win over Sandford Park but Newsome felt there were plenty of areas for improvement.
“We played well in parts but in fairness to Sandford Park it was a tighter game than the score reflected. The lads put some good play together but while the score was 43-10, we still have a bit to improve on before next week. It looks a lot more convincing than maybe it was on the day,” he said.
Despite their manager’s misgivings, Newbridge were totally dominant in the first half as they ran in four tries, all of which Robbie Mullen converted.
Wingers Phil O’Neill and Ivan Briody got the opening two tries before Dan O’Loughlin and Charlie Ryan also touched down in Sandford territory to leave the College 28-0 ahead at the change of ends.
Things got even better for Newbridge when Ryan returned Sandford’s second half kick off for the fifth try of the game.
The Ranelagh outfit came more into the game after that and got themselves on the scoresheet with two tries but O’Neill rounded off the win with his second try of the game five minutes from the end.
“We had a couple of good attacks early on, we attacked the space quite well early on. Both wingers managed to get a try each in the first half so we did relatively well to exploit the space out wide. The second half was a bit tighter,” said Newsome.
NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE: Jonathan Phelan, Conor Murphy, Brian O’Donnell, Stuart O’Rourke, Billy Scully, Callum O’Brien, Mark Kavanagh, Richard Snell, Robbie Mullen, Mark Sutton, Phil O’Neill, Graham Burns, Charlie Ryan, Ivan Briody, Dan O’Loughlin. Replacements: Conor Grant, Hugh O’Donnell, Tom Brady, Cian Grady, Jack O’Neill, Billy Delaney, Chris Deane.