William Kelly delivers 17 points as St Mary’s roll over Clongowes in Leinster Junior Cup

There was real bite in this one - two skilled, physical styles meeting on the gain line where even soft shoulders stiffened.

Openside Jorge Perez-Garcia was good for a penalty on the floor, feeding Clongowes’ need for front-foot ball.

This was eventually turned into the lead points when Owen Haugh struck from in front of the sticks after an offside.

St Mary’s won a strike against the head at a scrum to make way for Kelly to level it in the 14th minute.

There was a pragmatic attitude towards the game plans without ignoring the possibility of moving the ball when it was on.

The impressive Perez-Garcia was an absolute menace at the breakdown, while St Mary’s Tom O’Keefe fizzed through the line.

The Rathmines school pressed the action, their forwards, led by Eoghan Brady, carving out a chance for full-back Kelly to make it 6-3 in the 25th minute.

The carrying of Brady and David Kenny was making an impact, with the latter held up over the line as Clongowes survived to the half-time whistle despite the binning of prop Hugo Chiu.

The speed of O’Keeffe was a factor, flying around the outside from pinpoint passing by Cathal Bishop.

The St Mary’s forwards were intent on making their presence felt, Brady showing up time and again for James Whitty to have the final say from a ruck. Kelly converted for a 10-point gap in the 40th minute.

Then, Kelly was yellow-carded for tackling Bernard Ibirogba in the air, opening the door for Clongowes to mount a comeback.

Instead, Brady and Kenny were the reason Nicholas Sheehan was able to lob a kick pass for O’Keeffe to go close in the left corner.

When St Mary’s had Francis Nagle dispatched to the bin, they simply went over the top from Sheehan’s chip for Kelly to collect the try and the conversion.

It was left to number eight Brady to close the show with a well-earned finish from close range, Kelly converting again.

SCORERS - St Mary’s: W Kelly try, 2 pens, 3 cons; J Whitty, E Brady try each. Clongowes: O Haugh pen.

ST MARY’S: W Kelly; C Dunphy, D Manzor, C Bishop, T O’Keeffe; N Sheehan, J Fogarty; J Barrett, R Monatgue, T Quigley, J Whitty, D Kenny, E Farrell (Capt), F Nagle, E Brady. Replacements: J Prendergast for Bishop 54 mins; J Dunne for Montague, P Crane for Whitty, S Egan for Kenny all 55 mins; R Flaherty for Barrett, G Fagan for Quigley, J Dunne for Fogarty, C Crawley for Seehan all 59 mins.

CLONGOWES WOOD: B Brady; T English, D Morrissey, J Grant (Capt), B Ibirogba; O Haugh, V Chauvire; H Chiu, H Ivers-McCormack, A Evans, F Doyle, C Ryan, S Walsh, J Perez-Garcia, H Keaney. Replacements: D Maguire for Haugh 38 mins; H Blessing for Evans, P Kenny for Walsh both 53 mins; L Hyndes for Perez-Garcia, P Hogan for Chauvire both 55 mins; E McCarthy for Ivers-McCormack, S Priede for Ryan, M Brennan for English all 56 mins.

REFEREE: J Hollywood, Leinster Branch.