Double Victory For Munster At CIT

Both Munster Under 19 and Under 18 club sides both recorded wins against Leinster and Connacht at CIT.

Munster 26, Leinster 18.

The Munster Under 19 side made it two wins out of two in the Interprovincial campaign as they came from behind to defeat Leinster at the CIT.

The visitors opened the scoring with a penalty from James MacGowan in the ninth minute, before Munster took the lead with a try in the corner by Liam Coombes midway through the opening half.

Leinster regained the lead when Jordan Larmour embarked on a darting run from the halfway line to set up Barry Goulding for a try in the corner to give his side an 8-5 interval lead.

The visitors continued to hold the initiative in the second quarter as MacGowan got a try in the corner which he also converted. He also added a penalty to leave his side leading 18-5 before the tide turned in Munster’s favour.

Shane Bushe was credited with a pushover try from a driving maul following a five-metre lineout and this was converted by Conor Fitzgerald to reduce the margin to six points.

Munster continued to have the visitors camped deep inside their own 22 and Jack O’Donnell barged over in the corner for his side’s third try which was converted by Conor Fitzgerald to give Munster a single point advantage.

O’Donnell put the game beyond Leinster’s reach with his second try following a five-metre scrum two minutes into stoppage time and Conor Fitzgerald converted.

Scorers Munster: Liam Coombes 1 try, Shane Bushe 1 try, Jack O’Donnell 2 tries; Conor Fitzgerald 3 conversions.

Leinster: James MacGowan try, conversion & 2 penalties; Barry Goulding try.

Munster: Liam Coombes (CBC/Skibbereen); Sean Ivess (Shannon), Alex McHenry Capt. (CBC), Peadar Collins (Ard Scoil Rís/Garryowen), Glen Dickenson (Crescent College Comprehensive/Young Munster); Conor Fitzgerald (Ard Scoil Rís), Daryl Egan (Rockwell College); Joey Conway (Castletroy College), Mark O'Mara (Castletroy College/Old Crescent), Dylan Murphy (Roscrea School/Bantry Bay); Fineen Wycherley (Cistercian College Roscrea), Gavin Coombes (Bandon Grammar School/Skibbereen); Bailey Faloon (Crescent College Comprehensive/Garryowen), Ross O'Neill (CBC/Cork Constitution), Alan Fitzgerald (Castletroy College/Shannon).
Replacements: Shane Bushe (CBC/Crosshaven), Ben Murray (Rockwell College), Conor Beary (Shannon), James Kendrick (Rockwell/Clonmel), Peter Kelleher (CBC), Kevin O'Leary (Dolphin), Dylan Reeves Wasik (Castletroy College/Bruff), Brian McLoughlin (Rockwell), Jack Stafford (Glenstal Abbey School/Wexford Wanderers), Jack O'Donnell (Ard Scoil Rís/Shannon), Jack Quilter (Tralee), Nathan Randles (ASR/Shannon).

Leinster: Barry Goulding (Gonzaga College); Gavin Mullen (Blackrock College), Jordan Larmour (St Andrew’s College), Michael McDermott (Clongowes Wood College), James MacGowan (Blackrock College; Ciaran Frawley (Skerries), David Duggan (St Michael’s College); Rory Mulvihill (St Michael’s College), Tadgh McElroy (Dundalk), Jack Aungier (St Fintan’s College); Jack Regan (Birr), Oisin Dowling (St Michael’s College); Joe Carley (Enniscorthy), Conor Farrell (Navan), Paul Boyle (Gorey).
Replacements: Conor Maguire (Boyne), Eoin Corcoran (Longford), Michael McCormack (St Mary’s College), Conor Hand (Boyne), Roghan McMahon (Blackrock College), Tim Foley (Cistercian College Roscrea), Steven Kilgallon (Blackrock College), Derry O’Connor (St Mary’s College)

Referee: Stuart Douglas (IRFU).



Munster 29, Connacht 3.

The Munster Under 18 Club side bounced back from last week’s narrow defeat in Dublin to record their first win of the campaign against Connacht at the CIT Grounds.

Connacht opened the scoring with a penalty from Barry Walsh in the 11th minute, but David McCarthy equalised for the home side with a penalty three minutes later.

The visitors had Munster on the back foot for most of the second quarter, but bad handling short of the line was proving to be costly.

Munster upped the ante in the second half and they took the lead three minutes after the interval when the ball was spread out across the backline to Ethan Green for a try in the opposite corner following a lineout inside the visitors’ 22.

The home side continued to have Connacht on the back foot for most of the second half as Alex Molloy ran in three tries which were all converted by David McCarthy to end the game as a contest.

Scorers Munster: Alex Molloy 3 tries; Ethan Greene try; David McCarthy 3 conversions & penalty
Connacht: Barry Walsh penalty

Munster: Jordan Higgins (Shannon); Timmy Phelan (Dolphin), Maurice Daly (Dungarvan, David McCarthy (Skibbereen), Ethan Greene (Kinsale); Alex Molloy (Waterpark), Finn Rhys Thomas (Dungarvan); Luke Jordan (Dolphin), Tadgh McCarthy (Bantry Bay), Pat Casey (Bantry Bay); Colin Deane (Clonakilty), Jack Nolan (Waterpark); Dev Murphy (Waterpark), Jack Daly (Castleisland), Odhran Ring (Bruff).
Replacements: Derry Gleeson (Garryowen), Josh Wycherley (Bantry Bay), Darragh O’Shea (Newcastle West-Estuary), Evan Carroll (Young Munster), Shane O’Neill (Killorglin), Conor Ferns (Young Munster), Conor Hayes (Young Muster), Colm McSweeney (Newcastle West-Estuary).
Connacht: Jonah Culligan (Galwegians); Michael O’Reilly (Corinthians), Corey Reid (Buccaneers), Conor Burns (Dunmore), Mark Balaski (Castlebar); Rory Gaffney (Galwegians), Barry Walsh (Castlebar); Mark Keegan (Sligo), Luke Sweeney (Ballina), Kuba Kojtkowicz (Sligo); Adrian Cummins (Sligo), David Robb (Galwegians); Dylan Tierney (Corinthians), James Brandon (Creggs), Micheal O’Neill (Ballinasloe).
Replacements: Sean Tonra (Castlebar), James Kelly (Buccaneers), Melvin Conteh (Creggs), Jack Heavey (Castlebar), Ross Hickey (Galwegians), Kyle Higgins (Buccaneers), Thomas McGann (Buccaneers).
Referee: Peter Martin (IRFU)