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Top Oil Connacht Schools Senior Cup FinalColáiste Iognáid 13-7 Summerhill College
Coláiste Iognáid made it back-to-back Top Oil Senior Cup triumphs and a 14th senior title in front of a raucous crowd at the Sportsground this afternoon.
Summerhill fought strongly throughout but were unable to penetrate the Iognáid defence until the last play of the game.
It was by no means a vintage performance from The Jes but they were always in control and produced a professional display to claim their second title in a row.
Captain Diarmuid Codyre followed in his brother Morgan's footsteps, who lifted the title last year, with the out-half one of Iognáid's standout performers.
The crucial score came just before the break as prop Garey Keane, a firm fans' favourite among The Jes supporters, broke right through the middle of a ruck to cross.
Codyre's conversion made it 10-0 and a third Codyre penalty in the second half sealed the deal.
Credit to Summerhill as they never gave in and the Sligo school went in for a richly deserved try in the last play through lock Caoileann Carty with Brian Cox converting but they will have to wait another year for their chance to collect their maiden Senior Cup title.
After a dominant start by The Jes, Codyre missed two penalties in the opening 15 minutes with the second, from 45 metres, having the legs but whistling just wide of the left hand post.
A yellow card for Summerhill star centre Ross Hickey for an infringement at the breakdown after 27 minutes proved a major setback and Iognáid took full advantage.
First, Codyre slotted a penalty to make it 3-0 and after further pressure in the Summerhill 22, Keane spotted a gap in the Summerhill defence to score the all-important first try with Codyre converting.
In truth, Summerhill never looked like overturning the 10-point deficit after the interval as they just weren't able to hit top gear and Coláiste Iognáid ran out deserving winners.
Coláiste Iognáid: Adam Cunningham; Conor Briscoe, Tomas Forde, Cillian McCabe, David Molloy; Diarmuid Codyre (C), Eavan Kenny; Adam Corbett, Conall Fallon, Gary Keane; Diorai O’Connor, Aaron Mannion; Jake Gallagher, Cathal McGuinness, Hugh Keaveney
Replacements: Sean Monaghan, Cian Parsons, Michael Higgins, Tomas Power, Ciaran Anthony, Ruadhan Durkin, Gareth Kenny, Rory O’Flynn.
Summerhill College: Hugh Kisby; Cormac Murray, Kevin Connell, Ross Hickey, Rett Solano; Brian Cox, Brendan Cunningham; Mark Keegan, Vincent Reynolds, Conor Mc Govern; Caoileann Carty, Gary Golden; Fiachra Doherty, Sean Wynne, Adrian Cummins (C).
Replacements: Ben Smith, Brian Flanagan, Andy Probst, Yusuf Shalabi, Darragh Feeney, Jack Gorevan, Thomas O’Hehir, Ruairi Mulligan, Rodrigo Garcia, Mark Harte, Sean Chambers.
