Bandon Grammar Edge Castletroy In Schools Senior Cup Nail-Biter

There was plenty of drama at Musgrave Park this afternoon for the opening round of the Pinergy Munster Schools Boys Senior Cup as Bandon Grammar secured their passage to the second round with a 14-13 win over Castletroy College.

Castletroy took an early 3-0 lead as Bandon were pinged for holding on at the ruck which allowed Castletroy out-half Robert McConkey an early opportunity to put points on the board and his successful kick gave the Limerick school the early lead.

Their advantage didn’t last long as Bandon Grammar out-half Peter Symington responded with a penalty to level matters just moments later.

Symington then had an opportunity to put the Cork school in the lead but his penalty effort came back off the post and Castletroy cleared.

Castletroy followed with their own unsuccessful penalty attempt as McConkey’s effort went to the right of the posts.

The Limerick school didn’t miss their next opportunity, however. A clever lineout move saw Castletroy stopped short of the Cork school’s line and Aran Cregan was on the scene to crash over from close range on the next phase. The conversion attempt was wide of the posts as the Limerick school took a 8-3 lead.

A view of today’s Pinergy Munster Schools Senior Cup Round 1 match between Bandon Grammar School and Castletroy College

On the stroke of half-time, Castletroy’s Oisin Meehan received a yellow card and from the resulting penalty, Symington kicked three points to leave the Cork school trailing 8-6 at the break.

On the resumption of the second half, Bandon came out of the blocks quickly. The ball was spread wide to Liam Prior who crossed in the corner. Symington’s conversion went to the wide and right.

With Bandon now leading 11-8, both sides had long passages of play inside the two 22m lines but couldn’t find a breakthrough.

With less than five minutes remaining, Castletroy struck back through a powerful run from Usman Musa. The flanker broke through two tackles to dot down in the corner.

McConkey’s conversion was wide as Castletroy held a narrow 13-11 lead with less than a minute remaining in the match.

From the kick-off, Bandon managed to win a lineout inside the 22 and a penalty conceded by Castletroy a few moments later saw Symington kick three points to put the Cork school 14-13 in front.

There was still time for more drama as Castletroy managed to turnover possession on the restart with Bandon conceding a penalty moments later for going off their feet.

This provided McConkey with a chance to win the game with a kick from 30m out but his effort went to the right and wide as Bandon now go through to the next round where they will meet Limerick opposition once again in the form of Crescent College Comprehensive.

Bandon Grammar: Zack Canniffe, Calem Harte, Aaron O’Reilly, Barry Spearman, Conor Ryan, Peter Symington, Paddy Gaffney; Karl O’Regan, Marcus Kelly, Anthony Cleary, Cash Healy, Rory O’Callaghan, Liam Prior, Conor Miskella, Shadrach Nnamani.

Replacements: Jonah D’Alton, Fionn O’Neill, Max Tubb, Conor Mueller, Conal O’Sullivan, Jack Connolly, Rory O’Brien, Rory Golden, Robert Kingston, Adam Hutchinson.

Castletroy College: Liam Glynn, Sean McKeon, David Carr, Darragh McMahon, Mark Murphy, Robert McConkey, Oisin Williams; Jamie Conway, James Myers, Max Hoare, Oisin Meehan, Harvey Hogan, Usman Musa, Alister Tchokotieu, Aran Cregan.

Replacements: Cian Kennedy, Jack O’Gorman, Adam Dooley, Ben Fogarty, Johyn Regan Magner, Chulainn Williams, Ryan O’Keeffe, James Rennison, Bryan Toland, Rowan Brady.