Pres pack wears down gallant Ardscoil Rís
A big and well drilled Pres pack was the difference between two relatively well-matched sides and while the winners will obviously take a lot of beating, it will come as little surprise should Ardscoil make their presence felt in the latter stages of the completion.
They certainly got off to the desired start when creating the space for left-wing Loughlin O’Keeffe to cross for the opening score in the fifth minute. However, Pres quickly settled down and a powerful forward pack, in which Alex Kendellan, Max O’Leary and skipper Richie Foley formed a particularly effective back-row, gradually gained the upper hand.
They duly went ahead with a try by centre Darragh O’Sullivan and retained their 10-5 advantage to the interval. Alex Walsh, who looked a class act at number 10, stretched their lead with a penalty but the issue was back in the melting pot when Ardscoil prop Alex Long got the touch down after a powerful forward maul.
However, Pres again upped the pace and Kendellen was not to be stopped in a powerful surge to the Ardscoil line and Walsh’s conversion from a difficult angle followed by a close range penalty put the result beyond doubt at 23-10.
However, to their great credit, Ardscoil never gave up the fight and in the last minute their outstanding number eight Daniel Okeke charged over for a try converted by James Horrigan.
J Holden; C Morey, M Hand, D O’Sullivan, D Hurley; A Walsh, J Keohane; C McSweeney, B Kingston, C Morris, M Giltenan, J Kelleher, M O’Leary, R Foley capt, A Kendellan.
T Buckley, M Hayes, D Devlin, D O’Halloran, B Anthony, J Forde, S Cunningham, C Doyle, D French, J O’Leary.
K Dineen; E Collins, G Noonan, G Hanrahan, L O’Keeffe; A O’Halloran, I Leonard; A Long, D Dineen, K Danaher, W O’Callaghan capt, C O’Reilly, J Horrigan, J Ward Murphy, D Okeke.
A Daly, J Dillon, R McElligott, D Twomey, J Moloney, C Moloney, S Fitzgerald, D Smith, J Barry.
E Cross (MAR).
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