Waterford IT Win O’Boyle Cup

Waterford Institute of Technology added to their substantial trophy cabinet by winning the final of the All-Ireland Colleges Freshers final on Thursday at Barnhall RFC.

2007/08 ALL-IRELAND COLLEGES FRESHERS FINAL: Thursday, May 1

WATERFORD IT 27 NUI MAYNOOTH 13, Barnhall RFC

Scorers: WIT: Tries: James O’Sullivan, Colm Walshe, Pat O’Connor, Joe McSweeney; Cons: Justin Kirch 2; Pen: Justin Kirch

NUI: Try: Ben McCarthy; Con: Ben McCarthy; Pens: Ben McCarthy 2 

The win is in addition to the Waterford IT senior side winning the All Ireland Colleges cup at Waterpark RFC last week.

James O’Sullivan’s try just before the interval was the defining moment of this All-Ireland decider as it provided the Waterford side with a strong platform to work off upon the resumption.

Maynooth were on top in the first half, especially in the territorial stakes, largely thanks to a strong wind behind their backs.

Barnhall Under-20 out-half Ben McCarthy opened the scoring after just five minutes with a superb penalty effort and when he extended the lead to 6-0, another penalty from the ten-metre line due to Waterford’s Justin Kirch killing of the ball, the signs looked extremely healthy for the Kildare side.

Yet, the Deise men did well when it came to defending their try line and despite Maynooth probing hard through the bulk of Padraig Beatty, no gaps were to be found.

With the wind advantage, one felt that Maynooth would need to rattle up a few more points if they were to stand a chance in the second period.

So when O’Sullivan went over following a terrific cross-field kick by Shane Kelly to leave the score at 6-5, it was Waterford’s game to throw away.

In the second half, Kirch used the wind to great effect with some terrific positional kicks into the corners and from there Waterford’s maul did the rest.

Waterford’s forwards began to take control with James O’Sullivan again scoring. Joe McSweeney and Pat O’Connor also crossed the whitewash. With Kirch finding his kicking boots, his three beautifully struck conversions kicks left the score at 27-6. Game over really.

Maynooth managed to grab a late consolation try through the hard-working McCarthy which he duly converted, but it was a case of too little, too late.