Terenure College 12 Kilkenny College 3
Tries in each half by wingers Zak Vaughan and Luke Murnaghan proved decisive at Castle Avenue, where Terenure College got the better of Kilkenny College in the opening round of the Leinster Schools Senior Cup.
Clear-cut scoring opportunities were few and far between during a game that was played in extremely wet and windy conditions, but thanks to the sharp finishing of Vaughan and Murnaghan, Terenure booked their place in the last-eight of the competition.
Kilkenny had broken the deadlock on Clontarf RFC's all-weather surface with a sixth-minute penalty from skipper Josh Miller, but their lead proved to be a shortlived one. The industrious Vaughan was picked out inside the Kilkenny 22 three minutes later, and after spotting a gap behind the opposition defence, he raced over the whitewash.
This score was supplemented by a Mark Fabian conversion, and following a wayward place-kick by Miller on the half-hour mark, Terenure brought a 7-3 lead into the break. The south Dublin school had dominated possession for much of the opening period, and further persistence led to their second try of the game six minutes after the start.
Murnaghan received the ball in a wide position on the right flank, and even though he was under intense pressure from the Kilkenny defence, he squeezed through for an unconverted score.
This left Kilkenny in a perilous position, but they were given a much-needed boost at the end of the third-quarter when Terenure flanker Jack Cadell was sent to the sin-bin. Yet superb defensive work kept the Vinnie Murray Cup qualifiers at bay during a scrappy conclusion to the play, and Terenure ultimately progressed with nine points to spare.
TERENURE: S Dardis; L Murnaghan, A La Grue, D Henry-Hayes, Z Vaughan; M Fabian, M Eaton; A Tuite, H O'Neill, J Kerins; J Quirke, A Melia; J Cadell, J O'Hare, J Cooke. Replacements: B O'Hara for Tuite (54 mins), R McGrath for Quirke (56 mins), M O'Shea for Eaton (63 mins), R McInnes for Murnaghan, J Boland for O'Neill, A Deegan for Cadell (all 68 mins).
KILKENNY COLLEGE: M Braithwaite; T Awonusi, A Ross, J Rothwell, L Onilenla; J Miller, E Stephenson; D Young, S Gray, O Edghill; S Smyth, G Parr; S Dudley, A Florio, R Pim. Replacements: L Stephens for Smyth, M Onilenla both (52 mins), C Neale for Young (60 mins), B O'Sullivan for Rothwell, L Kerr for Stephenson, A Warner for Parr (all 63 mins).
Referee: M Casey (LRR).
