Newbridge College retained their composure and discipline, a not inconsiderable feat in the face of fractious and ill-disciplined opponents, during yesterday's first round clash at Donnybrook.
St Paul's College were fortunate to finish with 15 players, profiting from Sean Buggy's failure to spot one blatant off-the-ball kick and sundry other transgressions.
From the moment of their belligerent and juvenile gesticulating prior to the match, St Paul's appeared a team out of control: it was a pity, because when they concentrated on the rugby, they produced entertaining fare.
Number eight Tommy Markham and excellent openside flanker Brian Stokes ran strongly and worked hard, while full back Graham Johnson occasionally forced his way past the first line of defence.
St Paul's, though, continually tempted fate through indiscipline and were fortunate that Newbridge out-half Darragh O'Shea suffered an unproductive afternoon with the boot.
In mitigation, several of the seven place-kicking opportunities were either from long range or close to the touchline.
Second rows Brain Amerlynck and Colin Staunton were the pick of an industrious Newbridge tight five. O'Shea's punting, backed by the wind in the first half, punished every St Paul's turnover prodigiously.
The latter took the lead on seven minutes when out-half Ryan Creedon kicked a fine penalty from 28 metres, and then promptly watched his opposite number O'Shea fail with a brace of long-range attempts.
But it was O'Shea's clever diagonal chip that allowed the Kildare school to wrest the initiative when left wing Andrew Nolan wrenched the ball out of Padraig O'Flynn's grasp as the two chased down the kick on the St Paul's line.
O'Shea missed the conversion, but atoned with a fine drop goal from 30 metres to provide a little breathing space.
This was nullified when St Paul's were rewarded for a sustained spell of pressure with a try by Markham, who used his physique to crash through two tackles following a quick tap penalty..
With the outcome once again in doubt, it was Newbridge who responded more positively. O'Shea kicked an easy penalty on 60 minutes and just two minutes later a beautifully worked lineout gambit culminated in a try for Richard Downey.
The scrum-half raced onto the under-arm throw to the front of a shortened line-out, side-stepped two tacklers and scampered over close to the corner for an excellent individual effort.
Scoring sequence: 7 mins: Creedon penalty, 3-0; 23: Nolan try, 3-5; 36: O'Shea drop goal, 3-8. 56: Markham try, 8-8; 60: O'Shea penalty, 8-11; 62: Downey try, 8-16.
Newbridge: B Kehoe; P O'Flynn, B O'Donnell, R McCabe, J Mulryan; D O'Shea, R Downey; K Neylon, J Bond, J O'Donovan; G Rowan, T Kindregan; K Martin, J Heaslip, A Wilson.
St Paul's: G Johnson; C O'Conluain, P Dwane, M O'Siochain (capt), A Nolan; R Creedon, B J McHenry; P Mahon, T Kelly, N Kennedy; B Amerlynck, C Staunton; J McIlvenna, T Markham, B Stokes.
Referee: S Buggy (Leinster).
