Seapoint Recapture Energia Junior Cup Glory Days With Gripping Win

Seapoint are Junior Cup Champions once again and they did it the hard way. Under the glare and pressure of an Energia All-Ireland Men’s Junior Cup Final, Seapoint produced a performance that will live long in club folklore, defending with heart, hunger and heroism to defeat Dromore 13-10 and claim their second national crown in Ashbourne, 19 years on from their breakthrough success in 2007. 

It was a final that had everything, electric attacking moments, relentless defensive stands, and one decisive kick from Sam O’Donovan that ultimately separated the sides. The Dublin outfit could not have scripted a better start. 

Just three minutes in, Seapoint struck with a moment of pure ambition and pace. From inside their own half, Oisín McKenna spotted space on the left and exploded into it, slicing through the Dromore line and racing clear down the wing. With defenders scrambling in vain, McKenna touched down to ignite the Seapoint support. The conversion drifted wide, but the early message had been sent, Seapoint had come to play, and to play boldly.

Dromore responded with intent and physicality. Harry Long made a powerful break on seven minutes to bring the Ulster side deep into Seapoint territory, and from there came the first of many stern examinations of the Seapoint goal line defence. Phase after phase battered away at the line, but Seapoint kept folding, chopping and scrambling. Eventually, Dromore knocked on under pressure, and Seapoint escaped with a scrum on their own five, a small moment, but one that set the tone for what was to follow.

At the other end, Seapoint showed they could apply pressure too. A penalty for a hand in the ruck on 16 minutes allowed O’Donovan to kick to touch, and from the resulting maul, Dromore were driven backwards. Matt McKenna surged towards the line, and when the defence finally fractured, captain Donal McMahon was on hand to snipe over from close range. At 10-0, Seapoint had reward for their early dominance.

But finals are rarely one sided, and Dromore refused to fade. On 20 minutes, captain Ryan Hughes delivered a captain’s response, bursting through the Seapoint defence with a powerful carry to score to the left of the posts. Jonny Hunter added the conversion to cut the deficit to three, and suddenly the momentum had swung.

Hunter soon levelled matters with a penalty on 26 minutes after Seapoint were caught offside, and from there to the interval, it was Dromore who pressed hardest. They camped inside the Seapoint 22, earned a scrum on the five, and launched repeated assaults on the line. 

Time and again, Seapoint repelled them, tackles sticking, bodies thrown in the way, arms wrapping and holding firm. Even when Dromore held the ball up over the line late in the half, Seapoint’s resistance did not crack. At the break, it was 10-10, but the physical and emotional toll of that defence was already evident.

The second half followed a similar pattern, only the pressure intensified. Dromore came out firing, earning an early penalty and driving a maul deep into Seapoint territory. What followed was a prolonged siege. 

Scrums, tap and goes, penalties tapped quickly by Hughes, wave after wave crashed against the Seapoint line. Somehow, they survived. Inches from the whitewash, Seapoint kept their composure, eventually clearing their lines on 53 minutes to a roar from the stands.

When Josh Whelan was sent to the sin-bin on 59 minutes after further penalties, it felt like the moment Dromore had been waiting for. A man down, backs to the wall, Seapoint were asked once more to find something extra. And they did. Their line speed sharpened, their tackles grew more desperate, and their communication never wavered. Every turnover, every clearance was celebrated like a score.

Then came the defining moment. With just under ten minutes remaining, it was Seapoint who finally broke the deadlock. After absorbing yet more pressure, they forced a penalty from Dromore, as the referee’s arm went up. Sam O’Donovan stepped forward, took a breath, and split the posts with ice cold precision. In a final decided by fine margins, it was the first score of the second half, and it made all the difference.

Dromore threw everything they had into the dying moments, but Seapoint would not yield. The Ulster side could not get out of their own half, as Seapoint defended as notably as they had done for the previous 79 minutes.

When the final whistle sounded, exhaustion gave way to elation. Players sank to the turf, arms raised, knowing they had defended their way into history. This was not just a win built on skill or structure, it was built on courage. On a day when they were asked to defend for their lives, Seapoint answered every call, and in doing so, reclaimed their place among the champions of Junior Cup rugby.

Dromore 10  Seapoint RC 13
Ashbourne RFC
Scorers Dromore:
Tries: Ryan Hughes (21′).
Conversions: Jonny Hunter (22′).
Penalties: Jonny Hunter (26′).
Scorers Seapoint RC:
Tries: Oisin McKenna (3′), Donal McMahon (17′).
Penalties: Sam O’Donovan (71′).

HT: Dromore 10 Seapoint RC 10

Dromore: Jack Dillon, Aaron Stewart, Ethan Patterson, Dean Dillon, Samuel Dillon, Jonny Hunter, Harvey Patterson, Callum Bradley, Harry Long, Matthew Millar, Matthew McMaster, Matthew Thompson, Richard Dickson, Ben Carey, Ryan Hughes (capt).
Replacements: Rory Stewart, Adam Hanna, Andrew Black, Ryan Hanna, Blair McDonald, Jason Gribbon, Adam Keating, Andrew Rutledge.

Seapoint RC: Matthew Jungmann, Oisin McKenna, Patrick Perrem, Matt McKenna, Dave O’Reilly, Charlie McLoughlin, Sam O’Donovan, Callum Kavanagh, Eoin Mahon, Conor Eivers, Hugh Ross, Thomas Chadwick, Dave Murphy, Liam Forster, Donal McMahon (capt).
Replacements: Hugh Bourke, Dylan Kirara, Josh Whelan, Cian Tallon, Jack Campbell, Dan O’Donovan, James Newman, Gareth Hughes.