Schools' Rugby/Mount Temple 7 Pres, Bray 0: For excitement, this encounter was not exactly comparable with the shoot-out at the OK Corral. Still, Mount Temple earned their spurs yesterday in atrocious conditions at Sydney Parade to overcome the favoured Presentation College, Bray, in the Vinnie Murray Cup first-round replay.
They will play King's Hospital on Friday, most likely in Templeville Road, with the winners going through to the senior cup proper against Terenure College on January 31st.
Maybe later in the year, on firmer ground, Pres, Bray, would have prevailed but to get to that stage victory must be ground out in January.
Ably led by number eight Stephen Boyle, Mount Temple did exactly that with flanker Glen Predy scrambling over for the decisive try 10 minutes into the second half.
Immediately beforehand, the decision to run a kickable penalty had seemed like folly. However, after three phases of battering into the bigger Pres forwards, Predy peeled left off a ruck to score. Ian Denham confidently landed the conversion to atone for a missed long-range penalty attempt after 17 minutes.
The try was against the run of play as Pres had dominated field position for much of the first half and continued to do so into the second. But their inability to get play into the third phase without knocking the ball forward proved their undoing.
By the time they decided to keep the ball tight, the Mount Temple forwards realised they were in with a shout and tackled like their lives depended on it.
The north Dublin school played smart throughout and never challenged at the lineout, waiting for Pres jumpers to land before enveloping them. In contrast, Pres aimlessly kicked the ball away.
With the game nearing a conclusion, Pres began to exert greater pressure on their opponents' rearguard, with last year's winning JCT captain Jason Harris-Wright prominent. It mattered little, though, as Mount Temple refused to concede with one bursting run out of the 22 by Boyle relieving the pressure.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 45 mins: G Predy try, 5-0; I Denham con, 7-0.
MOUNT TEMPLE: P Murphy; H Gill, M Rantz-MacDonald, S O'Byrne, D Reamsbottom; I Denham, S Glynn; J Carlyle, P Dawson, J O'Keeffe; D Whelan, E McCabe; M Johnson, S Boyle, G Predy. Replacements: E Ffrench for J Carlyle (43 mins); J Gavin for H Gill (49 mins); A Sabongi for D Whelan (55 mins).
PRESENTATION COLLEGE, BRAY: S Quinn; D Barry, R Denver, C Duane, P Cunningham; L Browne, S Cranley (capt); P Dunphy, A Lewis, B Carlin; A Gilmore, S Armstrong; J Downey, J Harris-Wright, J Harman. Replacements: R Breslin for A Gilmore (58 mins); K Doherty for D Barry (65 mins).
Referee: J Fitzgerald (Leinster Branch).
