Another Duff Cup for Navan school
The possibility of a fourth Duff Cup pennant for St Patrick"s CS, Navan hung in the balance until the dying stages of a thrilling Leinster Schools" Junior Rugby final against Naas CBS at Donnybrook on Wednesday last until Chris Oginni struck to seal the win for the Navan side. St Patrick"s win was plucked from the jaws of defeat as Oginni blocked down an attempted Naas clearance and won the race to touchdown for what proved to be the winning score with less than 10 minutes remaining. The Duff Cup win was St Patrick"s fourth in six years and secured their place in the Fr Godfrey Cup where they will face Kilkenny College. A superb second-half display from the Kildare school saw Ryan Casey kick them into a slender two-point lead with 10 minutes remaining, but St Patrick"s refused to panic as they continued to pile on the pressure. Liam Bourke controlled the game from out-half and he got the running game going superbly. For all the brilliance of Bourke, St Patrick"s needed the intervention of Oginni and a large slice of luck to seal the win. While under pressure, Bourke"s kick was gathered by Cian O"Brien with a strong Navan presence bearing down on him. His attempted clearance was blocked by Oginni and the kind bounce allowed the Navan centre show his electric pace and race over for the decisive score. The Navan school were indebted to the outstanding work of second row Brian Cunningham and openside flanker Matthew Clarke. After Casey had kicked Naas into their early lead it was Bourke who dragged St Patrick"s back into the contest. Stephen Keelan drew the Naas forwards offside and Bourke reacted by taking a quick tap penalty and diving over for a brilliant try. His conversion made it 7-3 after 12 minutes. However, they failed to score again until Oginni"s intervention. St Patrick"s CS, Navan - Vincent Moore, Alan Moran, Chris Oginni, Cathal Smyth, Fiachra Clarke, Liam Bourke, Mark Gardiner, Ben Clarke, Adam Keating, Dylan Clarke, Thomas Cox, Brian Cunningham, Gareth McGrane, Matthew Clarke, Stephen Keelan. Sub - Nathan Sweeney for Clarke.