IT WAS a wonderful day for St. Gerard's as a single try and heroic defence saw them dethrone champions Blackrock following a pulsating Leinster Schools Senior Cup quarter-final at Donnybrook on Thursday last.

But while they were sublime in their execution of victory, one had to wait until the second-half for the real fireworks, after an opening period that saw both sides seek out weaknesses which in turn led to what was a real forward battle during that opening spell.

It was wonderful to see the play of both sides through the second half, the simplicity of their play, the wonderful defensive work of St. Gerard's in particular, which must have been pleasing to their coach, former Leinster and Irish international, Eric Miller.

While the first-half improved as the game progressed it was a case of both sides cancelling each other out, with a Blackrock penalty the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock.

It was a half played outside the respective 22s for it had turned into a huge forward struggle, with neither pack managing to lay a platform for their attacking backs to launch a real threat on their opposing line.

The Gerard's back-row was magnificent during this opening spell, Stephen Hackett-Delaney, aided by Finna Boylan, put in some tremendous tackles as they mopped up dangerous rauns from both Con Sheehan and Jack Conan. It was a ferociously contested first-half with both sides certainly nursing the hits during the half-time break.

St. Gerard's lost their captain and scrum-half Robbie Glynn as the result of a knock, while their opponents scrum-half, Marcus Walsh, also failed to return for the secondhalf.

Whatever problems the sides had in getting the ball back quickly to their respective backlines seemed to have been solved during the halftime break.

Whatever Eric Miller had to say certainly had the desired impact for St. Gerard's, for they upped the tempo of their game, showed an extra pep in their step, and with their back-row cleaning out possession, one was to see a tremendous second-half from both sides.

Soon after the break St. Gerard's threatened. Wing Jeff Desmond made the most of limited space to break the gain line.

A quick turn-over saw the ball find its way back to Steve Crosbie, whose cross-field kick was just too long for the onrushing Dylan Simmonds.

Blackrock were extremely fortunate not to have fallen behind for Crosbie's excellent kicking kept pushing St. Gerard's forward.

With just ten minutes of the second-half elapsed the Bray out-half created space with a jink and tore through the heart of the defence before handing off Blackrock No. 8 Richard Marsh.

Centre Rian O'Loughlin did brilliantly to get alongside his No. 10 and his angled run was superb as he eluded the clutches of another Blackrock defender to crash over for a try which brought their supporters to their feet.

Full-back Josh Glynn kicked an excellent conversion under intense pressure.

As Blackrock tried to haul themselves back into the game the superb Jack Conan was very evident for St. Gerard's.

His covering, ball handling and excellent tackling, saw him turn back the Blackrock barrage as his side put in a tremendous defensive display as their opponents saw out an equalising score.

In the closing minutes Blackrock laid siege to the St. Gerard's line but it was some magnificent last-ditch defending that saw the Bray boys keep their line intact.

As the clock ticked down it seemed as if St. Gerard's had done enough when Crosbie's excellent clearance kick found touch on the half-way line.

But in the final minute Blackrock came storming back, camped under the Gerard's posts, lost possession at the ruck, with replacement scrumhalf Conor O'Rourke booting the ball dead to secure a magnificent victory for the Bray side.

It was a magnificent performance from St. Gerard's but coach Eric Miller will be asking the players to bring their game to another level as they look forward to the semi-final.