Clongowes Wood College held out for a huge 17-15 victory over Terenure College, after a really tough battle on Wednesday afternoon.

A second-half penalty from Harry Mallon swung the result in the Kildare School’s favour in an ultra-competitive contest.

This was by far and wide the most entertaining and competitive game of the week so far. The teams traded two tries each in the opening half, in what was a back-and-forth first 35 minutes.

The second half wasn’t nearly as eventful. It was a war of the heavy hitters and a question of which defence was come out on top.

It’s already the midway point of the opening round. Today, we saw two more Leinster schools heavyweights do battle in Terenure College and Clongowes Wood College. Both schools hoping for more this year after disappointing campaigns last time out.

Terenure showed promising signs in the game leading up to the competition, branded by some as potential dark horses to go on and win the cup. Their head coach Sean Skehan is no stranger to winning. He has enjoyed 11 wins out of 12 games in the AIL this season with the club side. The young coach, definitely a telling influence on the youthful; squad.

Clongowes on the hunt for their tenth title had notable power up front. Munster U19 loose-head Max Duggan and Ireland U18 loose-head James Wyse. Former Munster and Ireland half-back Tomas O’Leary is their director of rugby, with the support of head coach Matthew Wright.

Terenure had a lot of the early ball, playing phase after phase, asking early questions of the defence. Clongowes stood up strong, making the dominant hits, especially Duggan and  Kosi Ugwueru who were both hungry for work all day.

The variation in Nure's attack was impressive, once the ball was let out wide, they showed what they can do, Jim Kennedy and Paddy Curry looking very alert. A great team move finished in a pick-and-go try for front-row Adam Cooper. Louis Moran making sure of the full seven points.

After the first quarter, it was clear that this was going to be the most evenly-matched game of the week so far. Clongowes came back with a bang after back-row Dan Daly ran a lovely line to score underneath the posts.

Nure restored their lead shortly after through the boot of their scrum-half Moran.

The momentum changed hands once more when the Clane school were awarded a penalty try after the charging Duggan got his hands free to offload to second-row Alex Kelly, who almost got the ball down.

 The referee decided to give the penalty try. Nure now trailing were also down to 13 men because of yellow cards given to Olán Storey and  James McCormack.

Anything, you can do, we can do better was the message coming back from Sean Skehan’s youngsters. The rolling maul providing the perfect platform for their second try. That score putting them back into the driving seat. The Dublin school led 15-14 at halftime.

At the start of the second half, Clongowes were looking lively, dominating the possession, and piling pressure on their opponents. Solid ball retention earned them an opportunity straight in front of the posts, not needing to be asked twice, Mallon smashed it straight down the middle, giving them a two-point cushion.

The second half was very edgy and quite tense, both teams making unforced errors, clear cut chances were at a premium.

The smart game management controlled by number nine Tom Murtagh and the stone wall defence led by Blayze Molloy made it very hard for the opposition who struggled to create any real cohesive attacks.

Skehan’s School played to the very final whistle, putting width on the ball in their final few chances in attacking territory, but the gaps didn’t appear and eventually, they were forced into touch, followed by the final whistle bringing a halt to their 2023 cup campaign. Clongowes now join, Blackrock, St Michaels and Newbridge in the quarter-final draw