Excellent first half sees Michael's book semi-final spot at Roscrea's expense

St Michael's led 21-3 against Roscrea at half-time in their Leinster Schools Senior Cup quarter-final. The Dublin side did not score again but it was enough took book a last-four place

Aodhán Carroll of Cistercian College, Roscrea in action against Myles Berman of St Michael's College during their Leinster Schools Senior Cup quarter-final. Pic: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile

Leinster Schools Senior Cup quarter-final: St Michael’s College 21 Cistercian College Roscrea 10

A strong first half display made all the difference at Energia Park on Wednesday as St Michael’s College advanced to the semi-finals of the Leinster Schools Senior Cup with an impressive victory at the expense of Cistercian College Roscrea.

Following a memorable opening round win over Belvedere College at the same venue on January 26, Roscrea were looking to secure another scalp against a renowned Dublin school in this encounter. It certainly began brightly for the boys from the Offaly-Tipperary border as scrum-half Aaron Moloney edged them in front by knocking over a routine sixth minute penalty.

Yet Michael’s had progressed to this stage of the competition with a hard-earned first round triumph against St Fintan’s High School, Sutton and the Ailesbury Road outfit eventually got their account up and running just shy of the first-quarter mark.

After fly-half Harrison McMahon superbly found touch off an attacking penalty, hooker Luke Loughrey applied the finishing touches to the resulting line-out maul for the maiden try of the game.

While Roscrea got themselves into the Michael’s 22 on a number of occasions as the action developed, it was their opponents who possessed the greater cutting edge in the opening period. At the end of a lengthy spell of attacking pressure, tighthead prop Conor Canniffe powered over the whitewash on the right-hand side.

McMahon slotted over a conversion in the wake of this score and also added the extras to his own try off a fast-paced Michael’s attack on 31 minutes.

This helped to ensure that Roscrea were 18 points adrift (21-3) at the interval and while Michael’s back-row Myles Berman was still in the sin-bin on the resumption for a yellow card he received towards the end of the first half, his side’s lead remained intact upon his return in the 42nd minute.

Roscrea posed problems for the Michael’s rearguard for the vast majority of the third-quarter, only for numerous handling errors – and some robust defensive work from their opponents – to prevent them from bagging the tries they needed to give themselves a fighting chance of success.

A charge down at the opposite end of the pitch from front-row Herbie Boyle (younger brother of Ireland international Jack Boyle) briefly looked set to yield a fourth try for Michael’s, but Roscrea dug deep on this occasion to keep their Metropolitan rivals at bay.

To their credit, Cistercian College persisted with their challenge and although it only served as a consolation in the end, they finally crossed the whitewash in the closing minute of the proceedings.

After superbly gathering a crossfield delivery on the left-flank, winger Sean Stone dotted down in clinical style for a try that was supplemented by an outstanding touchline conversion from Moloney.

Scorers for St Michael’s College: Tries: L Loughrey, C Canniffe, H McMahon Cons: H McMahon 3 

Scorers for Cistercian College Roscrea: Tries: S Stone Cons: A Moloney Pens: A Moloney 

ST MICHAEL’S COLLEGE: M Roche; M McCarthy (S King 70), J Divilly (M Haugh 35), M McKenna, E Loo; H McMahon, A Norse (R O’Sullivan 66); H Boyle (N Gross 61), L Loughrey (J Neville 70), C Canniffe (D O’Donohoe 56); P Lynch, J Kennedy (S Kennedy 66); P Downey (S McLaughlin 61), H Gallagher, M Berman.

CISTERCIAN COLLEGE ROSCREA: R Sullivan; S Stone, C O’Mara (D Bowe 59), J Hayes, H Finlay; K Hurley (D Bowe 52), A Moloney; S Nolan (W Powell 66), R O’Neill (O Doody 48), H Maher (A Carroll 48); A Ryan (O Finn 66), H Walsh; C Kehoe (M Griffin 42), J Miller (O O’Shea 66), R Flynn.

Referee: E Lyons (LRR).