Neary the hero as St Mary’s end 24-year wait for Leinster Schools Senior Cup glory

St Mary's won their sixth title after defeating Blackrock College in a replay

Paul Neary kicked the winning penalty for St Mary's in the Leinster Schools Senior Cup final against Blackrock College. Pic: ©INPHO/Nick Elliott

Leinster Schools Senior Cup: St Mary’s College 25 Blackrock College 22 

Paul Neary was the hero at Energia Park on Monday as his 61st minute penalty guided St Mary’s College towards their first Leinster Schools Senior Cup title since 2002 in a replayed encounter against Blackrock College.

There was just under three minutes on the clock when a Neary penalty broke the deadlock in this contest – which followed on from a drawn affair at Tallaght Stadium six days earlier – but this early lead proved to be short-lived. A sixth-minute attack from ‘Rock was rounded off by a powerful finish from Bernard White and courtesy of a routine Luke Coffey conversion, ‘Rock were now four points to the good.

Yet Mary’s have shown plenty of resilience throughout this year’s competition and regained the ascendancy when hooker Joseph Christle applied the finishing touches to a line-out maul on 12 minutes.

This was a set-back for ‘Rock, but they issued a reminder of their attacking quality when James Browne offloaded into the arms of Alex Aschenbrenner at the end of a superb run and the winger subsequently jinked his way over the line in fine style.

However, Justin Vanstone’s charges suffered a double blow when flanker Conal Power and Aschenbrenner were both sin-binned within the space of just two minutes. During the temporary absence of this influential duo, Mary’s front-row Christle broke free on 26 minutes to dive over for his second try of the game.

An outstanding Neary conversion from the left-hand touchline followed this score and even though a Cael McCloskey try moved ‘Rock back in front just before they were restored to their full compliment, Mary’s had the final say in the opening period.

With the clock very much in the red, team captain Andrew McGauran drove over the whitewash for a converted try that propelled Mary’s towards a 22-19 interval buffer.

It took some excellent pressure in defence from Mary’s on the resumption to force a knock-on from Browne when the 'Rock centre had the try-line in sight, but in comparison to what went before it, the third-quarter of this latest showpiece between these two south Dublin rivals was far cagier.

There was a growing sense that every score was now going to be crucial and thanks to a successful close-range penalty from Coffey, the sides were once again inseparable (22-22) in the 51st minute.

This ramped up the tension in the packed out Donnybrook venue with either team looking capable of pushing on for victory. ‘Rock did enjoy an extended spell inside the Mary’s ‘22’ after securing an attacking line-out, but their stubborn counterparts dug deep to eventually wrestle back possession.

This helped Mary’s to establish territory of their own and when Neary was presented with yet another opportunity at goal inside the closing 10 minutes of the action, the out-half made no mistake from an awkward left hand-angle.

For the second week running, the Rathmines side were within reach of a first senior cup triumph in more than two decades. On this occasion, however, they held firm in a pressure-filled finale to earn their sixth senior schools crown.

Scorers for St Mary’s College: Tries: J Christle 2, A McGauran Cons: P Neary 2 Pens: P Neary 2.

Scorers for Blackrock College: Tries: B White, A Aschenbrenner, C McCloskey Cons: L Coffey 2 Pens: L Coffey.

ST MARY’S COLLEGE: J Kelly; C Maguire, C Cantwell, D Tourish, N Sheehan; P Neary, J Fogarty; T Quigley, J Christle, D Kenny; J Whitty (R Flaherty 65), M Egan (E Brady 44); E Farrell, A McGauran, S Thornton (R Noonan 51).

BLACKROCK COLLEGE: C McCloskey (A Vetjens h-t); A Aschenbrenner, J Browne, B White, R Keogh (P Scally 68); P Scally (S Moloney 63), L Coffey; L Magee (L Golden h-t), H O’Neill, B Guerin (L Kelly 65); G Eggars, C McCarron; C Power, P Agnew (D Walsh 44), G Wall (L Hill 42).

Referee: J MacNeice (LRR).