LIGHTER IN the pack, St. Mary's C.B.S. were unable to match the superior strength of the Shield holders from Athy in Wednesday's Leinster Schools Junior Development Cup final in Carlow.

They were on the back foot from the kick-off, and 7-0 down within four minutes when No. 8 Pascal Connell charged over following two rucks going right; the score converted by Jos Carberry.

The Enniscorthy lads only put a first attacking foot in Kildare territory in the 24th minute, but crucially lost two throws after fine kicking by Robert Frayne.

They might have clawed back into the test but Eddie Dempsey lost possession in the hit in the left corner minutes from the break, and, when they opted to scrum a penalty in that zone, Athy again got the upper hand and turned the ball over.

With Aodáin King jumping particularly well, Enniscorthy were having problems with primary possession, and when David O'Toole joined a raid he was just about stopped short in the left corner.

Moments later Carberry was inches from the line after a smart break for the left post, but from the scrum five his team secured a penalty which he converted ten minutes into the half.

St. Mary's fought well with Martin Kehoe, Eddie Dempsey and James Cooper putting it up to the winners, but they were out of the hunt midway through the half when a sweeping move to the right through Carberry, Jeremy Loughman and O'Toole saw Dominic Redmond out-pace the defence to score behind the posts, with Carberry bringing up the 17, and 14 minutes later closing the scoring with a tap-over penalty after they threatened to touch down under the posts again.

Enniscorthy - in the Senior Development Cup final last season - were out of their league when it came to power and control on the ground where Athy turned over quite a number of balls due to early arrival, chiefly through back rowers Oisín Dunne, King and Connell.

Paddy Finn and Conor Martin added weight and efficiency to the cause, while Carberry, and excellent tackling by Loughman and Thomas Mulreed, saw them maintain their stranglehold.

The Co. Wexford boys seldom looked threatening despite the effervescence of Cooper, Kehoe, Dempsey and Brian Bolger in the pack, but Frayne was not in receipt of quick and quality service, yet Kevin Ryan and Liam Ryan certainly tested the winners' defence and they had plenty of second-half possession if only through 11 of the 16 penalties offered.

Enniscorthy were awarded 20 of the 31 penalties, put into ten of the 15 scrums and eight of the 22 lines.

Coach Alan Smith felt St. Mary's matched Athy everywhere except for in the contact areas, 'but I did feel they got most of the breaks,' he said, adding that he did not think the final scoreline was a fair reflection of the match, considering the first Athy try was on the fortunate side in that the bounce favoured them.

- PAUL DONAGHY