Presentation Brothers College, Crescent College Comprehensive and Castletroy College all booked themselves semi final spots in this year’s Avonmore Milk Munster Schools Junior Cup after coming through their second round Quarter Finals on Wednesday.
Avonmore Milk Munster Schools Junior Cup Quarter Finals- Round Two
Presentation Brothers College 23-8 Ardscoil Ris
Glenstal Abbey School 7-22 Crescent College Comprehensive
Castletroy College 10-8 St. Munchin’s College
Ardscoil Ris’ campaign for this year’s Junior Cup title came to an end at Musgrave Park, with the defending champions, Presentation Brothers College booking their semi final place with a 23-8 victory.
In what proved a lively game with both teams playing end to end rugby, Ardscoil Ris had the better start and sought to put the first points on the board with a sixth minute penalty attempt kicked by outhalf Alan Dempsey. Although his first attempt went wide, he made no mistakes four minutes later with a longer ranged kick finding its target, giving the Limerick side a 3-0 lead after ten minutes of play. PBC’s first attempt at goal also went awry, with Eamon Mills’ effort after 16 minutes not finding its mark. With the sides well matched in the first half, and both sides continuing to test the defences, it wasn’t until the 27th minute that PBC were able to gain a foothold in the scoring. This time around Mill’s boot was spot on, levelling the sides as half time approached. Two minutes into injury time PBC took the lead with winger Michael O’Leary showing some great speed to loop around the Ardscoil Ris defenders and outpace them to cross the line for a try, giving PBC and 8-3 lead at half time.
PBC started the second half in the same manner as they finished the first half, with a try in the corner after 4 minutes from Captain Ryan Murphy who touched down after a super cross field kick from centre Chris Bannon. With Ardscoil Ris having difficulties making inroads into the scoreline, PBC led 13-3 for much of the second half. Centre Rory Cullinane touched down for the Cork side after 53 minutes, with Mills’ converting to take PBC 20-3 ahead. Six minutes later Mills added another successful penalty kick to take them 23-3 ahead. To their credit, Ardscoil Ris fought hard for possession in the closing stages, and never stopped pushing for the PBC line. Full credit to the Ardscoil Ris pack for their Trojan work in trying to make some inroads into PBC’s lead. Their perseverance paid off with a try in the eighth minute of injury time from second row Peter McGann, leaving the score 23-8 at the final whistle.
Castletroy College cemented their place in the semi finals of the Avonmore Milk Munster Schools Junior Cup with a hard fought 10-8 win over St. Munchin’s College.
The opening minutes saw both teams attempt to push for a try, only to be turned over by the opposition’s defense. It wasn’t until the 16th minute that the scoring was opened when Castletroy’s Enda Carroll spotted a gap in Munchin’s defenses and scored a try. Unfortunately, the conversion attempt went wide. With most of the play spent in the centre of the field for the rest of the first half it finished at 5-0 to Castletroy at half time.
St. Munchin’s started the second half with a renewed sense of urgency and determination with Briain Dennagher coming within inches of scoring a try 5 minutes after the break. However, it spurred St. Munchin’s on, and they kept up the pace and the pressure with a maul from 5 yards out, proving to be unstoppable for Castletroy College.
Barry McNamara touched down for a try in the 10th minute of the second half, leveling the score. Despite the rejuvenation, Munchin’s let their defenses slip, and Castletroy’s Darragh Nolan scored a try almost immediately after the Munchin’s try giving Castletroy a 10-5 lead. The 27th minute of the second half saw St. Munchin’s Connor Barry score a penalty kick from a difficult angle to make it 10-8. The last moments of the game were dominated by Munchin’s who looked for the winning score, but Castletroy’s defenses proved impenetrable. At the final whistle the score was unchanged, with Castletroy claiming the victory and a place in the semi finals.
Crescent College Comprehensive defeated Glenstal Abbey School at Clanwilliam on Wednesday scoring three tries in their 22-7 win over Glenstal. Despite what the score line would suggest this was a highly competitive game up until Crescent’s second half tries in quick succession made it extremely difficult for Glenstal to fight back. The Crescent full back Brian Murphy opened the scoring after 14 minutes, with a successful penalty kick. Flanker Padraic Ryan crossed the line for Crescent after 22 minutes, with a brilliant conversion by Murphy from the sideline to give Crescent a 10-0 lead at the break.
Five minutes after the restart Crescent’s Shane Stanley scored their second try, stretched their lead to 15-0. Five minutes later centre Paul O’Sullivan centre scored Crescent’s third try, which Murphy converted. Twenty two minutes into the second half Glenstal got some points on the board with promising young player Ian McCarthy, crossing the line and centre Stephen O’Donnell converting to complete the scoring. Despite Glenstal’s best efforts, Crescent’s lead was just too wide to bridge, and they held on for the win.
Presentation Brothers College
15. Seamus Glynn, 14. Michael O’Leary, 13. Rory Cullinane, 12. Chris Bannon, 11. Brion O’Sullivan, 10. Eamon Mills, 9. Mathew Kelleher, 1. Bryan Scott. 2. Dylan Malone, 3. Stephen Randles, 4. Jack O’Callaghan, 5. Dave Hartnett, 6. Ryan Murphy (Captain), 7. Ross Caplice, 8. Adam Hudson
Replacements: Eoin Power for Malone (44), David Horgan for Scott (55), Michael Russell for Kelleher (55), Fergal Dineen for Power (58), Barry Fitzgerald for Hartnett (60), Lloyd O’Brien for Murphy (60), Steve Dinan for Bannon (60)
Ardscoil Ris
15. Rory Collins, 14. Cormac Ryan, 13. Mark Leonard, 12. Alex McNamara, 11. Kevin Phelan, 10. Alan Dempsey, 9. Conor McLoughlin, 1. David Canny, 2. Simon Keane, 3. Gearoid Healan, 4. Peter McGann, 5. Paul O’Sullivan, 6. Brendan O’Connor, 7. Mike Hennigar, 8. Kevin Walsh (Captain)
Replacements: Eamon O’Farrell for Dempsey (52), Eoghan McCabe for Phelan (56), Luke McGrath for O’Connor (60), Gavin Doherty for Canny (62), James Fahy for O’Connor (62), Sean Noonan for McLoughlin (62), Brian Masterson for Walsh (62)
Referee: Trevor Collins (MAR)
Castletroy College
15. James O’Sullivan, 14. Stephen Droog, 13. Greg Barrett, 12. Eoin Clancy, 11. Darren Nolan, 10. Andrew Fullen, 9. Neil Cronin (Captain), 1. George Egleston, 2. Eoin Murphy, 3. Conor Clancy, 4. Kelvin Reale, 5. David O’Brien, 6. Michael Dooley, 7. Conor Bonfil, 8. Enda Carroll
Replacements: 16. Darragh O’Brien, 17. Tadhg O’Sullivan, 18. John McDonnell, 19. Rowan Humphreys, 20. John Hourigan, 21. David Butler, 22. William Shanahan
St. Munchin’s College
15. Cormac O’Donnel, 14. Cian Woods (Captain), 13. Ben Drew, 12. Shane Madden, 11. Alan Ruschitzko, 10. Connor Barry, 9. Darren Ryan, 1. Shane Gavin, 2. Barry McNamara, 3. Alan Twomy, 4. Evan Ryan, 5. Gavin Ryan, 6. Mel Corbett, 7. Briain Dennagher, 8. Paul Curtis
Replacements: Colm Galvin for Woods (HT), Evan Gallagher for Ryan (45)
Glenstal Abbey School
15. Dean Moore, 14. Eoin Mullen, 13. Ian Kenny, 12. Stephen O’Donnell, 11. Bill Connors, 10. Cormac Hayes, 9. Conor Kearns, 1. Thomas Gaisford, 2. Charlie Clarke, 3. Noel Frisby, 4. Fergal Blake, 5. Michael Gallagher, 6. Cillian MacDonagh, 7. Paul Deignan, 8. Dan Healy
Replacements: (all used) 16. Keelan Bourke, 17. Billy Shanahon, 18. Ian McCarthy, 19. Ed O’Driscoll, 20. Kevin Prendergast, 21. Peter Hamilton, 22. Shane Costigan
Referee: Seamus Flannery (MAR)
