Midleton College Claim The Mungret Cup & Shield

Midleton College claimed the Mungret double yesterday by beating Villers School 7-3 in the Cup and claiming a 15-0 win over St. Clements in the Shield.

In the Senior final Midleton went 3-0 down and within 5 minutes got a penalty and kicked into touch around their 22.

A well taken line out ball resulted in a strong maul and Villiers were penalised. Midleton opted for the scrum 7 metres from the Villiers line, strong stable possession and Rory Walsh spotted a gap between the 10 and 12, changed pace and ran in under the posts for 5 points.

Julian Power converted and Midleton led for the remainder of the game 7-3. While both sides made endeavours to score the defence was firmly on top with the defence on both side being fearsome.

There was a nail biting finish as Midleton had missed a penalty opportunity in the last 10 minutes. Midleton were greatly assisted by the heroic defence of, in particular, Rob England and Marwin O’Sullivan as Villiers tried their best to get through the Midleton defence. The last 5 minutes were played in Midleton’s half with Villiers camped inside Midleton’s 22 with Midleton being penalised for infringing – further adding to the pressure. Midleton holding out for a 7-3 win.

Mungret Shield

The first half was an even enough affair with both sides having periods of dominance. Midleton’s Hugh Jeffrey spotted a gap and changed pace and ran in under the posts for 5 points.

Although there was exciting play for the remainder of the first half the score remained 10-5 in St. Clements favour.

Midleton appeared to get a bit of the edge in the second half aided by the vocal support! It seemed as though they were likely to break through the line at any point often only called back by the referee’s whistle.

Strong forward carrying by the likes of Padraig Fives and Luke Obersby continued to cause Clements trouble. On one such carry Padraig Fives excellently scored a try to bring it to 10 all. Both sides eagerly sought the winning score and Midleton looked to have the edge in the back line.

Following strong recycling from the forwards Diarmuid Phelan excellently chipped through a gap in the defence and chased well to regather and score in the corner. Midleton clearly with their tails up finished the remainder of the game looking for a match settling score.