Gerald’s go direct in derby victory over Rice

Connacht Schools Senior ‘C’ Cup Final 

St Gerald’s, Castlebar 53 

(Dylan Rice (4), Alex Dunlop, Leo Bailey (2), Seán Collins, Patrick Flannelly tries; Oran Bourke one con; Conor McInerney three cons) 

Rice College 27 

(Jack O’Grady, Zak Serey, Cathal Guilfoyle, Darragh O’Connor tries; Cillian McKeown one pen, two cons) 

Kevin Egan at the Dexcom Stadium 

St Gerald’s became just the third Mayo school to etch their names onto the Connacht Schools Senior Cups roll of honour last Wednesday, and they did so by somehow recording the largest total of any team in the history of the competition, while at the same time finding themselves ten points down with nearly ten minutes gone in the second-half of the game.

If that sounds incredible, it’s because it was. When Rice College exploded out of the blocks at the start of the second-half to turn a 17-10 deficit into a 27-17 lead, they looked like they had got their opponents all figured out, and that they were stonewall certainties to add a Connacht Senior ‘C’ title to the ‘B’ crown, then known as the Development Cup, that they won back in 2011.

St Gerald’s were still eminently capable of working their way back into the tie, since there was certainly plenty of attacking flair in their group, but the idea that they might score six more tries in the closing 25 minutes seemed somewhere between fanciful and ludicrous.

Yet they did exactly that, not through a sudden explosion of magic moments, but by relentlessly wearing down Rice College’s resistance over that time.

After the game, team coach Paddy Durcan gave a very simple instruction of the tactics of this St Gerald’s group – get the ball, keep it in hand, run hard and straight, and keep going. This was taken absolutely to heart, as the Castlebar students employed a style that was almost akin to rugby league, more so than union. Not for them, was the policy of deceive or distract; instead they simply tried to follow the mathematical principle that the shortest distance between any two points is a straight line, and to go as directly and aggressively towards the Rice College goal line as was possible.

That did lead to the concession of the first score, a penalty from Cillian McKeown. Eoghan Wright almost followed this kick with the game’s first try when he travelled 40 metres to bring play inside the 22, but he wasn’t able to keep it going, and when St Gerald’s had their spell of control, they quickly made it clear how they planned to go about their business.

John O’Brien made good ground through midfield with a strong carry, Conor McInerney opted to tap and go with two penalties, and when Carl Jackson and Excel Anslem brought play up close to the Rice College line, it was Dylan Rice who applied the finish.

There was blunt force to St Gerald’s game, but there was awareness and patience too. Their next attack brought them so close to the line that O’Brien and Leo Bailey might have been tempted to try and stretch out and finish themselves, but they kept their nerve, recycled play and Rice was there again to inflict further damage on the school that bears his name.

Because kicks were so rare, this was a game where the wingers and full backs pushed up quite high, and Rice College took advantage of this when team captain Peter McNally dinked a ball over the top, and while Matthew Flannelly was the favourite to handle it, a cruel sideways bounce deceived the full back and allowed Jack O’Grady to swoop in and run through 30 metres of open space before dotting down under the posts.

A third try from Rice – Dylan, not the college – made it 17-10 by half-time, but the Westport students exploded out of the blocks after the restart. Zak Zerey showed a clean pair of heels to the defence for the opening try and then cut open the defence with a second burst that allowed Cathal Guilfoyle to finish, and then an uncharacteristic handling error in the Castlebar back line, as they tried to carry the ball out from their own 22, gave Darragh O’Connor the chance to make it 17 points unanswered.

Tempting though it might have been to declare this as a case of St Gerald’s living by the sword and dying by the sword, given their persistence with running the ball from anywhere and everywhere, they were about to be resurrected by the same blade.

First it was McInerney and Seán Collins doing the hard work to allow Alex Dunlop to finish, then with 20 minutes to play, outstanding pace from Leo Bailey delivered the levelling score.

Bailey then won a penalty from which Dylan Rice simply tapped to himself and powered across the line, and by now Rice College were reeling, unable to get their hands on the ball and expending a world of energy trying to stem the tide of St Gerald’s runners.

Seán Collins claimed a restart that led to another Bailey score, then he added his name to the scorers’ list, a list that was rounded off when Patrick Flannelly sprinted over and Conor McInerney added a touchline conversion to bring up the half-century.

As a method of winning a first ever Senior Cup title, St Gerald’s of Castlebar had delivered the prize they craved in a manner that may never be rivalled.

St Gerald’s, Castlebar: Matthew Flannelly; Leo Bailey, John O’Brien, Patrick Flannelly, Adam Murphy; Oran Bourke, Conor McInerney; Carl Jackson, Peter Foy, Seán Collins; Alex Dunlop, Evan Mulchrone; Lee Kirrane, Excel Anslem, Dylan Rice. Replacements: Oisín Feeney (for M Flannelly 16), Khamal Momoh (for Mulchrone ht), Luke Carney (for Kirrane 61), Kevin Rowland (for Bourke 61), Fabien Stach (for Jackson 70), Szymon Solowinski (for Foy 70), Darragh O’Grady (for Murphy 70).

Rice College: Eoghan Wright; Aaron O’Malley, Harry Grimes, Peter McNally, Cathal Guilfoyle; Cillian McKeown, Jack O’Grady; Aaron Ryan, Zak Zerey, Keith O’Malley; Art Swanton, Cyprian Walencik; Tim Ginnelly, Shane Lavelle, Darragh O’Connor. Replacements: Darragh Ryan (for A Ryan 47), Brian Brady (for Ginnelly 59), Aditya Shaw (for A O’Malley 64), William Duggan (for Swanton 64), Cian Hughes (for Lavelle 69).

REF: Mark Harrigan