Schools Rugby/Leinster Senior Cup: Blackrock 22 Kings Hospital 6Do not be fooled by the scoreline. Blackrock were made to earn their place in the semi-final of the Leinster Senior Cup at Donnybrook yesterday.
History and tradition are always difficult obstacles to overcome, especially in this competition. However, undeterred by the mammoth task, King's Hospital made their lofty opponents scrap for every inch.
This was undoubtedly the best King's Hospital side in recent years. Blackrock's speed merchants, Michael Kavanagh and Vasya Artemiev, were never given the opportunity to stretch their legs out on the wings.
Yet, as they also showed in the opening round against St Mary's, this latest Williamstown outfit are a stubborn lot. They were more than content to slug it out at the coalface all afternoon.
Their reward arrived just before the hour mark. After winning a scrum against the head, number eight Darren O'Reilly made the initial charge and, despite a three-man overlap on the right, the pack continued to probe close in, with prop Gary Walsh eventually forcing his way over. Kavanagh added the conversion to leave it at 10-6.
Despite losing the territorial battle, King's Hospital never panicked under the constant forward bombardment and even took the lead midway through the second-half thanks to a penalty from Killian Lett.
They hit Blackrock with everything they possessed. After just a minute, Conor Donohoe broke the first line of defence only to be dragged down by scrumhalf David Madigan 10 yards out. In fairness, Blackrock were prepared for the early onslaught and they forced three separate knock-ons with some ferocious tackling.
After soaking up the initial pressure, they switched play down field but the King's Hospital defence remained solid. Conor O'Daly did make it over the line, only to be excellently held up by Lett.
The King's Hospital outhalf's assured kicking relieved the pressure on countless occasions, while captain Shane Young led by example in all aspects of play.
Hooker Stephen Gray finally lifted the siege with a pacey break down the left flank and after 32 minutes Lett had them in front with his first penalty.
From the restart Blackrock were awarded a penalty. O'Daly missed the target but he did level the scoring, with his third effort, three minutes into first-half injury-time.
Blackrock continued to play the match deep in their opponents half but a stream of mistakes prevented them from building up the required attacking platform. The loss of O'Daly to an ankle injury then forced a complete reshuffle of the back line.
James Power stepped into the pivot role, with Kavanagh moving from wing to centre. Considering the disruption, they coped admirably.
In the 47th minute Lett made it 6-3 to the underdogs with a penalty from almost 40 metres but just as thoughts of an upset began to grow in the mind, the powerful Blackrock pack produced Walsh's try.
Artemiev then touched down only for it to be disallowed, for a double movement, but as King's Hospital attempted to attack from deep Luke Fitzgerald intercepted a Niall Hogan pass to kill off a brave challenge. Kavanagh added his second conversion from in front of the posts.
Deep in injury-time full-back David Nyhan finally opened up the disciplined defence with the third try to put a gloss on the scoreboard, which by no means reflected the endeavours of the defeated team.
SCORERS: Blackrock College: G Walsh, L Fitzgerald, D Nyham try each; M Kavanagh 2 cons; C O'Daly pens. King's Hospital: K Lett 2 pens.
BLACKROCK COLLEGE: D Nyhan; M Kavanagh, L Fitzgerald, J Power, V Artemiev; C O'Daly, D Madigan; G Walsh, P Young, S Snell, M Cantrell, R O'Hara, D Laffan, G Flanagan, D O'Reilly. Replacements: S Creavin for S Snell (22 mins), R Stokes for C O'Daly (38 mins), N Lysaght for G Flanagan, C McGough for M Cantrell (both 66 mins), S Kirwan for V Artemiev (69 mins), N Murphy for L Fitzgerald, M Soden for P Young (both 70 mins).
KING'S HOSPITAL: P Donovan; A Deegan, C Donohoe, N Hogan, R Molloy; K Lett, J Orr; G Moran, S Gray, C Telford, N Wilkinson, R Young, B Cunningham, G Carleton, S Young. Replacements: T Stone for C Telford (49 mins), R Glynn for K Lett (52-53 mins), P Musgrave for G Carleton (53 mins), R Glynn for N Hogan, G Telford for S Gray (both 66 mins).
Referee: T Deacon (ARLB).
