Back when they were the kings

De La Salle Churchtown: Damien Duff, Brian Glennon and David Harmon, three past pupils of De La Salle Churchtown who have left an indelible mark in the college's history, Duff by virtue of his exploits with Chelsea and the Republic of Ireland while the latter two shared a common bond before taking diverse sporting paths.

Glennon went on to play for Lansdowne and Leinster and win a single cap for Ireland when coming on as a replacement against France in the Five Nations Championship (1993) while Harmon represented Ireland at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in the 82kg Freestyle wrestling. Glennon and Harmon, though, cut their sporting teeth on a schools rugby success.

This season marks the 20th anniversary of DLS Churchtown's Leinster Schools Senior Cup triumph in 1985 when they beat Blackrock College 10-6 in the final. The tournament's roll of honour has been the preserve of the elite for the ensuing two decades, honours distributed among four schools, Blackrock, Terenure College, Clongowes Wood College and St Mary's College. The only solace coming from the top table to the aspirants, has been the crumb of a final appearance.

An acknowledgement of that dominance was the introduction of the Vinnie Murray Cup for the Section B or middle-tier schools to complement the Section A silverware, the Fraser McMullan trophy. It was a positive reaction to the assertion that the smaller schools didn't have a realistic chance of overall honours.

It is difficult to see anyone emulating Churchtown's success and muscling their way into the top six schools for the foreseeable future - in a playing context Belvedere and St Michael's are lumped in with the big four.

In that mid-'80s period De La Salle won two Senior Cups, in 1983 and '85 and contested the 1986 final.

The closure of the junior school in the late 1980s and dwindling numbers from a high point of just short of 700 pupils to today's figures of about 320 largely explain a decline in playing fortunes that see them compete these days in Section A, having volunteered to be so ranked.

Glennon was 15 when he was handed the number 10 jersey for the 1983 Schools Senior Cup campaign. "I remember the final against Castleknock was shown live on RTÉ. The previous year they showed full delayed coverage when a Brendan Mullin inspired Blackrock beat King's Hospital.

"I started playing rugby in second class in the junior school and had about five years experience before hitting the senior school. That's no longer the case now the junior school is gone and the numbers, which were 600 plus in our day, are now half that.

"We were lucky that a group of players came together at the right time for the school but you'd also have to point out that we got a decent draw in both 1983 and '85. The first year we played Newbridge, St Gerard's and Roscrea before beating Castleknock in the final and in 1985 we got past Castleknock, St Gerard's, King's Hospital, Pres Bray and Blackrock in the final.

"We only played one top team in two cup successes and in the second campaign we had seven games, winning two replays and confirming victory on three occasions in injury-time. It's fair to say we had the rub."

Glennon captained the team in 1985 from inside centre - Harmon was outhalf - scoring four tries in seven matches including the only try in the final. He was one of the finest schools players of his or any generation.

"I remember the team meeting on the night before the final. Blackrock had beaten us in the Junior Cup and were favourites to repeat that but a couple of guys stood up and said that they had been overawed at 13, 14 years of age but there was no way it would happen tomorrow.

"It set the tone for the day. Scrumhalf David O'Connor dropped a goal with his left foot, wing Aidan Fitzgerald kicked a penalty and I managed to get a try. We were hanging on for dear life in the last 10 minutes and a try-saving tackle by Dave (Harmon) on Niall Eyre with about two minutes to go epitomised our determination.

"It was only afterwards we found out that Mick Doyle, who had coached Ireland to the Triple Crown the previous week had gone into the Blackrock dressingroom before the match to offer a few words of encouragement. His son Andrew was the openside flanker.

"Outside of winning a cap for Ireland, that was the most memorable day I had on a rugby pitch. I love to think that some of the smaller schools could emulate what we did but I don't think that's feasible as things stand and that's a pity.

"We had a 10 year reunion in 1995; I think it's time we organised another one."