Castleknock College and King's Hospital fought out a keenly contested 5-5 draw at Westmanstown yesterday.
Despite the low score-line, both sides produced some free flowing rugby, with the only real scoring opportunity for each side being converted into a try each.
Ten minutes after the start, Castleknock forward pressure paid off when they went over for their try. Scrum-half Mark Flanagan broke around a maul, close to the King's Hospital line and flicked a neat pass to number eight Glenn Quinn, who dived over in the right hand corner. Centre Shane Carty missed the conversion but Castleknock went into the break at 5-0 up.
The second half was evenly contested until two minutes from the end, a late surge by King's Hospital, finally saw them breaching the Castleknock line. Following a tap penalty near the line by scrum half, Keith Sothern, number eight Adam McKeown received and barged over in the left-hand corner. Out-half Michael McEllin missing the awkward conversion.
At the final whistle, with the scores level, sighs of relief were breathed all round, with the replay beckoning next week.
Castleknock College: M Ward; M Moriarty, J Smith, S Carty, T Vivour; G Stafford (capt), M Flanagan; C MacDonnell, J McCaghy, C Byrne, M Hunt, C Finlay, P McLoughlin, J Foley, G Quinn. Replacements: M Bradley for Hunt (ht).
King's Hospital: N Lyons; T Byrne, R Hosie, M Pitt, S Nolan; M McEllin, K Sothern; O Prunty, D Stokes, S Cooke, P Hosie, R Collander, C O'Sullivan, C McClean (capt), A McKeown.
Referee: D Keane (ARLB)
French clubs Bourgoin and Mountferrand will meet in the European Shield rugby union final in Lyon on FEBRUARY 27th.
The winner will qualify for next season's European Cup, in which last year's winners of the Shield, French outfit Colomiers, were beaten in the final by Ulster last Saturday.
