Patrick Nash's penalty snatches victory for The Jes over CBS Roscommon 

Dramatic finale to Connacht Schools Senior Cup final at Galwegians RFC

Colaiste Iognaid players celebrate at the final whistle after their last-gasp win over CBS Roscommon in the Connacht Rugby Schools Senior Cup Semi-Final. Picture: Inpho/Laszlo Geczo

Connacht Schools Senior Cup semi-final 

Coláiste Iognáid 18 Roscommon CBS 16 

Kevin Egan, Galwegians RFC

 

Coláiste Iognáid (The Jes) secured their place in the 2022 Connacht Schools Senior Cup final in the most dramatic fashion imaginable on Thursday afternoon when Patrick Nash’s penalty just one minute before the final whistle nudged them over the line against a Roscommon CBS side that was more than a match for their Galway city opponents throughout an absorbing contest at Galwegians RFC.

It looked like the CBS were destined to reach just their second ever Senior Cup final when DJ Hession nudged them in front after 33 minutes with a well-struck penalty, but Coláiste Iognáid were to get not one, but two more chances to salvage their campaign and earn a rematch with Sligo Grammar School as they piled on the pressure in the closing minutes.

Their first penalty, awarded after Roscommon CBS failed to properly control the restart, was pushed wide of the target by Andrew Sherlock, but when the Jes marched back into CBS territory after easily gathering the drop off, they earned another chance, which was struck straight and true by Patrick Nash to secure the win.

3-3 at half-time was a fair reflection of a tight game that really opened up just three minutes after the break when Robert McHugh made a smart break and offloaded to David Kelly, with the lock forward showing a clean pair of heels to two tacklers before touching down under the posts.

So began a period of tit for tat scores that saw Aodhán Looby reply for Roscommon, Paddy Fahy use his power to drive over for a Jes try to make it 15-8, and then Jack Donnelly sneak into the right corner after DJ Hession’s quick pass gave him enough room to get under the Jes defence.

A late and high hit by Hugh Kelly on Darren Gately left Hession, who played both minor hurling and football for Roscommon in 2021, the task of giving Roscommon CBS their first lead of the game with two minutes to play.

Hession was up to the challenge, but despite the yellow card that was shown to Kelly, Coláiste Iognáid were also able to find a reply when they needed it most.

Coláiste Iognáid: B O’Malley; H Kelly, A Madden, R McHugh, C Toner (C Ó Floinn 42); P Nash, A Sherlock; P Fahy, C Leonard, L Cloherty (AJ Solan 67); R Lally (F Hanney 70), D Kelly; R Kavanagh, S McGovern (C Bogue 42), J Quinn.

Roscommon CBS: D Gately; S Lambe, A Looby, E Filho, J Fleming (J Donnelly 51); DJ Hession, C Dolan; A Gorman (J Murray 16, A Oates 44), T Tiernan (S Rohan 64), B Johnson; A Hoare (M McAteer H-T), E Kelly; C Purcell, T Etette, L Kilcoyne.

Referee: J Craughwell.