The desolation on the faces of the Blackrock College players at the final whistle of yesterday's McCorry Cup Final at Anglesea Road, encapsulated the nature of their defeat. Having been outplayed for much of the opening half, they totally dominated after the restart, clawed their way back to a single point deficit and then looked on in horror as one opportunity after another was tossed away.
Full back Paul Drew and outhalf Alan Dalton suffered wretched afternoons with the boot, managing an aggregate total of one success from six attempts. Blackrock will also reflect on spurning a certain try, three minutes into the second half. Excellent flanker Paul Graham stepped past three tacklers on a 30 metre run, fed the supporting James McCormack eight metres from the line. His momentum would have taken him over but the second row decided to offload two metres from the line. Tom O'Donoghue failed to hold a poor pass. It would be churlish to blame Blackrock's inadequacies for a Dublin University victory. Trinity produced some excellent rugby in the first half, in a largely compelling and highly entertaining encounter. They too were a mite careless in exploiting good approach work, the pack guilty of overplaying the ball and ignoring overlaps further out.
They also displayed tremendous courage under fierce pressure in the second 40 minutes. Second row Trevor Hogan pinched several opposing throws and his work-rate around the pitch along with the entire backrow was central to the outcome. In truth the whole Trinity eight were excellent. Coach Tony Smeeth's decision to play number eight Dominic St George in the centre provided huge dividends, not only defensively but also in several fine runs from a gifted athlete. Full back Niall Murray missed two early penalties before landing his third from 15 metres, a deserved reward for unrelenting pressure.
It was not until the 32nd minute that the winners extended their lead, a try from hooker Gavin Ryan, well crafted from a lineout. Murray converted but Blackrock finished the half stronger profiting from poor control by their opponent's at a ruck which allowed McEvoy to dive over.
Drew's poor day with the boot was mirrored by Dalton, and Trinity seemed to have copper fastened victory when Murray added a second penalty. However, Blackrock stormed back and a great surge by Treston from a lineout allowed McEvoy to grab a second try. Drew added the conversion but despite dominating territorially over the last 11 minutes Blackrock could not find the decisive score.
Scoring sequence: 9 mins: Murray penalty, 30; 32: Ryan try, Murray conversion, 10-0; 35: McEvoy try, 10-5. Half-time: 10-5. 64: Murray penalty, 13- 5; 69: McEvoy try, Drew conversion, 13-12.
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY: N Murray; C Buckley, K Lewis, D St George, J Warman; D Crotty, M McCluggage; C Sheehy, G Ryan, S Brophy; T Hogan, M Costigan; A Maher, R Stewart, P Rafferty. Replacements: B Urquhart for Ryan 62 mins; N O'Connor for Sheehy 62 mins.
BLACKROCK: P Drew; A Cahill, G Brown, S Sorahan, R Murphy; A Dalton, J Sullivan; P Dowling, G McEvoy, J Murphy; J McCormack, J McG overn; P Graham, N Treston, T O'Donoghue. Replacements: B Symes for J Murphy 14 mins; A Martin for McCormack 68 mins.
Referee: A Baird (Leinster).
