A fine game owed much to the influence of the opposing captains

THE ENDURING moment from the 2008 Leinster Schools' Senior Cup final happened right at the death. When referee Alan Rogan brought matters to a close deep in injury time, two friends from opposite sides immediately sought each other out. Tom Sexton and Richard Bent were to be found at the coalface all afternoon.

They were also the opposing captains. Mates from slogging together at representative level, both are distinguished players. The Belvedere hooker's first reaction must have been to celebrate but instead he consoled the St Mary's number eight.

Sexton is a rare breed of sportsman. A technically excellent hooker, the teenager exudes the qualities of a fine leader: the type of guy that other young men would follow anywhere.

There were those tense final stages of the opening-round match against Terenure when Belvedere displayed enough courage to keep playing rugby and were rewarded with a late Michael Keating try. And there was the semi-final against Clongowes, when they somehow repelled wave upon wave of battering-ram assaults.

On both occasions Sexton was prominent, particularly against Clongowes, when he even sacrificed his own involvement on the field - the only player to be sinbinned in this season's competition. But it was worth it. The reward came when he was presented the Cup by his mother, Alison Sexton.

"We did it, lads," was the first line of his acceptance speech.

Belvedere are the best schools team in Leinster - no question - but the glue that kept it all together was their number two. "I can honestly say I'm not convinced we would have done it without him," said coach and former international secondrow Gabriel Fulcher. "He refuses to lie down. He refuses to lose. He is an inspirational figure for those guys. He has a genuine presence in the dressing-room and on the pitch."

The pivotal decision yesterday was made by Sexton. With 48 minutes on the clock Belvedere were leading 8-5 when they were awarded a penalty just inside the St Mary's half, a few yards to the right of the posts.

Sexton knows his team-mates well and barely hesitated before flipping the ball to openside Peter Synnott, a Gaelic footballer with O'Tooles GAA club and another who relishes the high-pressure environment. There was no doubt about the three points once it left his right boot.

"He's a very, very good kicker, he plays a lot of Gaelic football so I had confidence he could have a go from anywhere," Fulcher added.

"There was a bit of a discussion as to whether it was too far out. Tom Sexton decided to kick for goal."

It hardly came as a surprise that Sexton, despite being a teenager, talked afterwards like an old hand.

"Defence wins cups," he said through one eye, the right one having been closed during 70 minutes of trench warfare.

"It was our most intense performance. Maybe we didn't play to our potential throughout the whole competition but I think we had the most desire of all the teams and that's what counts in the end.

"St Mary's are the most committed team in the competition. Richie Bent and Jack McGrath are just unbelievable players. The physicality they brought to the game was immense.

"I just think we had a little more control at times in the set-piece and on our own ball."

Under the direction of Rodney O'Donnell - a British and Irish Lions tourist in 1980 - St Mary's ensured the fingernails of every supporter were well chewed by the finish: "Nobody rated us earlier on in the year but to come within a small score of winning it - and we played some decent rugby along the way," he said.

That they did, but Belvedere's power game got its just reward.