Clongowes Wood College bow out of Leinster Senior Cup
Clongowes Wood’s Tom English dejected at the final whistle Photo: ©INPHO/Andrew Conan
There was disappointment for Clongowes Wood College at a rain-soaked Energia Park in Dublin on Wednesday as the Clane-based side fell to a third consecutive opening round defeat in the Leinster Schools Senior Cup.
Despite Turlough Devitt and Michael O’Sullivan grabbing tries in either half, Clongowes fell short to an impressively-drilled St Mary’s College outfit by seven points. This defeat arrives 12 months on from their agonising 18-15 reversal at the hands of eventual finalists Terenure College at the same stage of the competition, while Belvedere College had a single point to spare over them (19-18) in the opening phase of the 2024 Senior Cup.
Despite being played on an all-weather surface, difficult weather conditions – whether that be wind or rain – made it tough at times for either team to establish a consistent attacking rhythm. This led to a set-piece driven start to the game, though Mary’s did eventually get their backs into play with the help of some neat passes from fly-half Paul Neary.
The Rathmines school eventually worked their way into the Clongowes ‘22’ and after he latched onto an offload by tighthead prop David Kenny, powerful No 8 Sean Thornton powered over the line for an eighth minute try.
This five-pointer was supplemented by a Neary conversion and the dependable place-kicker also added a penalty in the 15th minute to leave Clongowes 10 points in arrears.
Outside centre Joshua Grant was carrying with significant intent, but the north Kildare men struggled to gain a firm foothold in the opposition half during the first-quarter of the action. Yet Clongowes persisted with their challenge and were very much back in the reckoning on the half-hour mark.
Following a series of five-metre drives close to the Mary’s whitewash, second row Devitt clinically drove over for a try that was complimented by a successful bonus strike from fly-half Ollie Worth.
This cut the deficit to just three points, but it was their opponents who ultimately had the final say in the opening period. Moments after Neary had fired a penalty wide of the mark, flanker Andrew McGuaran was released by Joseph Christie off a ‘tap and go’ for an unconverted stoppage-time try.
This ensured Clongowes – who are coached by Tom McKeown - entered the interval 15-7 behind and were left to chase the game on the resumption as a result.
However, a strong start to the second half would potentially keep Wood in contention for a last-eight spot and Worth’s penalty at a right-hand angle from inside the opposition ‘22’ left just five points between the teams.
Yet Clongowes suffered a set-back on 44 minutes when influential hooker O’Sullivan was sent to the sin-bin and Mary’s immediately took advantage of their temporary numerical supremacy.
After opting for touch off an attacking penalty, the south Dubliners pushed forward off the ensuing line-out maul. The ball eventually ended up in the hands of scrum-half Jack Fogarty and he picked out McGauran, who proceeded to burst over the line for his second try.
This left Clongowes with a mountain to climb moving towards the final-quarter, but they once again showed plenty of mettle to give themselves a fighting chance at progression.
Following a sustained period of attacking pressure, Clongowes opted for a line-out off a close-range penalty. This proved to be a wise decision as an ensuing maul that included backs as well as forwards was finished off by O’Sullivan on the hour mark.
While Worth couldn’t supply the extras to his side’s latest try, a gap of seven points opened up the possibility of this game heading to a replay.
The hard-working O’Sullivan looked set to have them within touching distance of cancelling out the Mary’s lead when he made a dash for the line off a set-piece move on 67 minutes, but he was held up in the end by the retreating opposition defence.
St Mary’s breathed a sigh of relief as a consequence and while both teams saw their fair share of the ball in the closing moments of a compelling affair – which was met by torrential rain as the final whistle approached – they had done enough to book their place in the quarter-finals of the 2026 edition of the Leinster Senior Cup at the expense of Clongowes Wood.
Josh Kelly; Christopher Maguire, Conor Cantwell, Nicolas Sheehan, Daniel Tourish; Paul Neary, Jack Fogarty; Thomas Quigley, Joseph Christie, David Kenny; Eoin Farrell, Max Egan; Robert Flaherty, Andrew McGauran, Sean Thornton. Replacements: James Whitty for Egan, Eoghan Brady for Flaherty (both half-time), Donal Manzor for Fogarty (64).
Freddie McGuigan; Brian A McCulloch, Joshua Grant, Owen Hough, Tom English; Ollie Worth, Thomas Walsh; Hugo Ivers McCormack, Michael O’Sullivan, Alexander Evans; Philip Kenny, Turlough Devitt; Hugh Keaney, Charlie Hussey, Adam Coffey. Replacements: Shaun Priede for Hussey (47-54), DJ Howley for Evans (54), Charlie Ryan for Kenny, Senan Walsh for Hussey (both 68), Noah Rooney for Ivers McCormack (69).
Andrew Cole (Leinster Rugby Referees).
