Newbridge were lethargic for most of the first half of this Leinster Schools' Senior Cup quarter-final and their reaction to their first try was indicative of the way they underestimated the Kilkenny side's challenge.
In the 22nd minute number eight John O'Sullivan weaved his way through a series of tackles. Second row Peter Turley found Paddy Noble in space and his looped pass arrived in the welcome hands of right wing Ronan Kavanagh. The Kilkenny cover was languishing inside and he simply took the route outside into the corner.
There was no discernible celebration after Kavanagh's try - it was as if Newbridge regarded it as inevitable. Most team members merely turned their backs on the line and ambled towards the halfway for the kick-off.
Before this movement, Ryan Cunningham and Russell Armstrong had exchanged penalties and, if anything, Kilkenny had posed the greater threat with a break from their captain Philip Furney sending a shiver of panic through the Newbridge defence.
Kilkenny were on a hiding to nothing going into the game. They had not faced anything close to Newbridge's huge pack. However, they gave it their all from first to last. Their resources may have been limited but not their attitude or application.
Edward Connor, Justin Kidd and Ronan Whitford were constantly snapping into rucks and putting bodies to the ground with hard tackling.
Still, Newbridge were not too bothered. Cunningham converted Kavanagh's try and shot a penalty in the 27th minute to put the Kildare side 13-3 ahead at the break.
The second half produced more of what was feared from the start. Tony Buckley, Garvan De Bruir, Jonathan Toland and O'Sullivan began to pound out the yards. The Kilkenny eight fought hard but their strength was slowly sapped. Paddy Noble and Darragh O'Shea were not shy in going through the gaps that were beginning to appear.
The giant Buckley burst over beside the posts, Kavanagh pounced on a misdirected drop goal attempt by Noble and O'Shea swerved through a static defence from 40 metres to paint a different picture in the end.
O'Shea was left writhing in agony under the posts in the 55th minute after Furney had followed through after the touchdown.
NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE: D O'Shea; R Kavanagh, R Cunningham, H Garrett, P Jenkins; P Noble, C Rees; J Fitzpatrick, G De Bruir, D Kenneally; P Turley, T Buckley; C Dempsey, J Toland, J O'Sullivan. Replacements: B Kehoe for Noble, R McCabe for O'Shea (both 56 mins).
KILKENNY COLLEGE: A Carson; I Galbraith, W Gethings, P Furney, R Seale; R Armstrong, R Jones; D Rothwell, D James, E Connor; J Kidd, K Stanley; E Stanley, N Holland, R Whitford. Replacements: A Copeland for Holland (halftime), P Ryan for E Stanley (64 mins), R Deverill for Seale (65 mins), B Thompson for Connor (68 mins).
Referee: D Woods (ARLB).
