Summerhill emerged victorious over the Jes in Galway this afternoon to take a stronghold of first place in pool 1 of the Connacht Schools Senior Cup.

The Jes raced out into an eight-point lead early on but Summerhill put together a fine second-half performance to turn the tide and ultimately take the victory, with a late Oliwier Major converted try putting Iognaid out of bonus point range.

Due to adverse weather conditions, this game was the only one of the three Senior Cup fixtures today that survived, with frozen pitches in Ballina and Creggs leading to the battles of Muredach’s v Garbally and CBS Roscommon v Marist both set to be rescheduled.

The Jes continued where they left off after victory last week over Garbally, with Bobby Power driving over the line after just three minutes, giving his side an early lead with his second try of the cup competition so far. Callum Elwood missed the resulting conversion.

Oisin O’Neill had the opportunity to bring Summerhill back into the fixture moments later but was unable to convert a penalty.

Elwood pushed the Jes lead out to a two-score game just before the twenty-minute mark with a penalty giving them an 8-0 lead. 

Summerhill edged back into the game following the Elwood score, and it was not too long until Kealan Schön dotted down for his second of the competition just before the break, with O’Neill unable to convert leaving the score 8-5 at halftime. 

Many predicted this to be a one-score game after both teams emerged victorious from Round 1 with a win for either team this afternoon all but booking their place in the final four of the cup. 

It did not take long into the second half for Summerhill to take their first lead of the game. Nine minutes into the half Malachy Cullen crossed over for a try to give the Sligo side the advantage, with O’Neill converting the extra points. 

Oisin O’Neill found his form after adding the extras from the try, with his next attempt ten minutes later sailing between the posts, extending his side's advantage out to seven points from the tee. 

The Jes pushed to get back into the game in the closing stages of the game, and with just five left on the clock, substitute Louis O’Connor managed to get over the line but Elwood was unable to convert leaving Iognaid two points behind with little time left on the clock.

With the Galway side pushing to go ahead at the death it was Summerhill who tagged on the next try, with Oliwier Major scoring his first of the cup. O’Neill converted to the dismay of the Jes who were now seeing their losing bonus point slip out of their hands. 

Iognaid now travel to Muredach’s needing a win to progress next week, meanwhile Summerhill host Garbally knowing victory will see them top the group.