Marist hold off Sligo rally to retain Connacht Senior Cup
Marist College 24 Sligo Grammar School 19
By Kevin Egan
Marist College retained the Connacht Schools Senior Cup and won their fifth title overall by overcoming Sligo Grammar School in Wednesday's final at the Dexcom Stadium, in what was the latest chapter of the keen rugby rivalry between the two schools.
In a classic inversion of the old trope of cup rugby, Marist College had their flair players in the backs make the hard yards through the middle of the field and establish their territorial advantage, setting the stage for their front row to score three tries in this final.
Ciarán West scored two tries with Adam Peter Murphy crossing for the other, with Andrew Henson – returning to action after injury – converting all three as well as landing a penalty. Marist led 21-5 early in the second half and though Sligo Grammar forced their way back into contention, the Athlone side kept them at bay.
It’s a win that leaves the two schools tied on a pair of Senior Cups apiece over the past four years and given that the 2024 and 2025 Junior Cup finals were also contested by these two powerhouse schools at opposite poles of the province, no doubt there are more chapters to be written in the story yet.
It’s a measure of the gravitational pull that exists between the sides that this was yet another one score game, since it felt like Marist were dominant for the majority of the contest. There were strong performances all over the field and there was no backwards step taken up front by the winners, but what gave them separation was their creativity and spark when the ball was spun out to the backs to let them do their thing.
The return of Ireland U-19 international Andrew Henson was always going to add a dollop of magic and incision to the Marst unit and alongside the excellent centre partnership of Darragh Glennon and Oisín O’Donoghue, that trio carved out breakthroughs with wonderful lines of running, slick passing and outstanding offloading.
Scorers – Marist: Ciarán West 2 tries; Andrew Henson 1 pen, 3 conversions; Adam Peter Murphy 1 try. Sligo GS: Alastair Hewson, James McGettrick and Aron Martin 1 try each; Ben O’Connor 2 cons.
Marist College, Athlone - Andrew Henson; Paul O’Sullivan, Oisín O’Donoghue, Darragh Glennon, Andrew Cotton; Darragh Murray, Owen Egan; Ciarán West, Adam Peter Murphy, Peter Daniel Sunny; Joe McSharry, Peter Bourke; Rueben Colleran, John Finnan, Kyle Byrne. Replacements: Hugo Hannon for Sunny (30 mins), Donnacha Dullea for West (57), James Kelly for McSharry (64).
Sligo Grammar School - James McGettrick; Kelvin Kalu, Bobby Hanrahan, Andrew Deegan, Logan O’Neill Markey; Ben O’Connor, Andrew Ryan; Cathal Moffatt, William Draper, Mark Bradley; Seán Cashell, Owen McNamara; Aron Martin, Alistair Hewson, Ronan Mullan. Replacements: Ryan Burrows for Cashell (half-time), Sam Carnegie for Bradley (41 mins), Matthew O’Grady for O’Neill-Markey (57), Evan Barrett-O’Neill for McNamara (61), Cashell for McGettrick (67), Arran Symmons for Draper (70), Luke O’Connor for Hanrahan (70).
Referee - Shane Tuohy.
*See more in next week's print edition.