Junior Rugby Round-Up

There were five finals decided over the weekend with the Munster Junior Cup Final ending in stalemate.

The Munster Junior side travelled to Carrickfergus to face Ulster in the Junior Interprovincial Championship, but were totally outplayed as they lost 35-0.

The Munster Junior Cup Final between Shannon and Clonmel at Thomond Park was a cracking tie ending 16-16.

Shannon’s Ronan McKenna and Clonmel’s Conor Cooney exchanged penalties midway through the opening half before a Cooney penalty six minutes before the break gave the holders a 6-3 half time lead.

Ronan McKenna levelled ten minutes into the second half and minutes later he intercepted a pass and raced away to score the game’s first try which he converted.

The lead only lasted ten minutes as Alex Sheehan took a quick tap penalty and got in for a try which Cooney converted to tie up the scores.

Three minutes later Clonmel were back in front with Cooney’s third penalty, but McKenna restored parity with a penalty for Shannon with eight minutes remaining to send the game to a replay.

Skibbereen won the Cork County Cup for a seventh time with a 21-16 victory over Clonakilty at Bandon.
Tries from Declan White and Gerard McCarthy to three Ger Hurley penalties had Clonakilty 10-9 ahead at half time.

Joe Lee extended Clonakilty’s advantage with a penalty, but an excellent try by Liam Coombes and a second by winger Rory Hone converted by Hurley put the game beyond Clonakilty. Lee did close the gap with his second penalty.

Highfield completed the double in South Munster when they lifted the Junior 2 Cup with a 29-13 win over Cobh Pirates in the decider at Irish Independent Park.

The winners dominated the opening half and raced into a 14-3 half time lead with tries from Michael Dillane and Mark Spillett, both of which Dave Eustace converted. Adam Devlin replied with a penalty for Cobh.

Donal Moriarty extended Highfield’s advantage with a third try early in the second half. Cobh hit back with a try from Aaron O’Flynn but a penalty from Eustace made it 22-8 after sixty minutes.

Twelve minutes from time Jordan Griffin scored a second Cobh try, but Highfield were camped in the Cobh '22' for the remainder of the game and were rewarded with an injury-time try from Neal Griffin which Eustace converted.

Bandon retained the Kelly Cup with an 18-13 victory over Mallow. Colm Hurley and Andrew Willis scored tries for Bandon and Olan Crowley kicked a conversion and two penalties. Hugh Barry replied with a try for Mallow which Aidan Twomey converted and Kieran Willis kicked two penalties.

Fermoy won the McCarthy Cup with an injury-time try by Dan O’Brien earning them an 18-14 win over Crosshaven at Rathcooney. A try by Aidan Baragry and a conversion and penalty by Eoin Lacy had Fermoy 10-0 ahead at half-time. Lacy kicked a second penalty for Fermoy and Crosshaven replied with tries from Willie Condon and Michael Roche and Dean Crowley converted both.

Young Munster won the North Munster Under 20 Cup with a 9-3 final win over Old Crescent.

RESULTS:
Junior Interprovincial: Ulster 35, Munster 0;

Munster Junior Cup Final: Clonmel 16, Shannon 16;

Cork County Cup Final: Clonakilty 16, Skibbereen 21;

Junior 2 Cup South Final: Highfield 29, Cobh Pirates 13;

Kelly Cup Final: Bandon 18, Mallow 13;

McCarthy Cup Final: Fermoy 18, Crosshaven 14;