Sport

Mount Temple's Moore the merrier

A penalty by out-half Jeff Moore six minutes from the end sent Mount Temple into the final of Section A of the Leinster Schools…

By DES BERRY
Thu Dec 10 1998 - 00:00

A penalty by out-half Jeff Moore six minutes from the end sent Mount Temple into the final of Section A of the Leinster Schools' Senior Cup at Belfield yesterday.

That had not looked the likely scenario in the first quarter when Moore missed two penalty chances. St Columba's must have felt as if they had been let off the hook. They pounded the Mount Temple line and got nothing less than they deserved when scrum-half Hugh Passmore got over for an unconverted try. Moore did kick a penalty in the 26th minute. But the general flow of play meant that he and his three-quarters were restricted to tackling to protect their own line. Mount Temple right wing, Robin Kiely, saved his side from a further setback when he intercepted what seemed a scoring pass to St Columba's' left wing Peter Taggart just before the break. It may have been the most important moment of the game.

Even though Taggart kicked the first of his two penalties in the 39th minute, St Columba's were only 8-3 in front. Mount Temple wiped this deficit away when number eight Keith Ellis got over for a try. Moore converted to put his side 10-8 in front. St Columba's came back strongly and Taggart tagged on a penalty in the 57th minute. However, with the breeze stiffening and Mount Temple's dander up, Moore had two opportunities to seal victory for his side. He took the second one.

Scorers: Mount Temple - K Ellis try; J Moore 2 pens and con; St Columba's - H Passmore try, P Taggart 2 pens.

READ MORE

Mount Temple: S Cairns; R Kiely, D Handcock, I Kelly, S Jones; J Moore, T Casey; L Murray, G Mercer, D Hickey, C Cummins, S Lynch, J Fitzachery, N O'Carroll, K Ellis. Replacement: K O'Mahony for Handcock (63 mins).

St Columba's: M Willis; M Waldburg, H Hoare, P McKinley, P Taggart; A Kidd, H Passmore; J Moore, N Flynn, J Galvin, K Campbell, M Fortune, A Colhoun, R McArdle, B Deacon.

Referee: K Clayton, ARLB.

Nick Mallet, coach of South Africa who equalled the world record of 17 straight Test wins, has been named Rugby union Writers' Club Personality of the Year.

The writers will give a special award to Welsh captain Gwyn Jones.