Munchin’s Book Place In Schools Senior Cup Final

St Munchin’s caused an upset at Temple Hill with a deserved victory over Presentation Brothers College in the semi-final of the Avonmore SuperMilk Munster Schools Senior Cup and will now face Rockwell College in the decider on Monday 19th March at Thomond Park, kick off 3.00, in a repeat of the 2001 decider between the sides which Rockwell won 13-5.

P.B.C. 13, St. Munchin’s 17.
On the day Munchin’s were deserving winners and while Pres’ might point to the number of injuries they had going into this game, they were forced to make a late change before the kick off when Paul Derham had to cry off to be replaced by Ryan Callanan, but there is no dening the Corbally College their place in the final.

They say that tries win matches and Munchin’s outscored the Mardyke College 3 to 1 and that is the main reason the Corbally School are in the final.

Munchin’s played with the advantage of the strong wind in the opening half and from the start they had Pres’ on the back foot camped inside their Twenty Two for the opening ten minutes.

Munchin’s winger Edward O’Keeffe was nearly in for a try after a minute as Pres’ winger Peter O’Brien let the ball bounce at the corner flag but lucky for the Cork side it hopped into touch.

With the Munchin’s pack getting on top, it was no surprise when they hit the front on nine minutes, when a forwards drive was finished off by prop Eoghan Kelly who touched down and Shane Airey converted.

Pres retaliated immediately but the Limerick side withstood the onslaught and Full Back Cormac O’Donnell put in some relieving kicks.

The Limerick side were reduced to fourteen when a yellow card was shown on twenty three minutes and three minutes later Pres’ were level. A break by out half Rory Scannell sent Seamus Glynn in for a try and Scannell converted.

Munchin’s regained the lead just on the stroke of half time when good work by replacement Daithi O’Byrne and Evan Ryan sent winger Edward O’Keeffe in for a try to give the Corbally side a 12-7 interval lead.

Scannell closed the gap with a penalty after forty two minutes and despite some sustained pressure by the Pres’ pack that saw Max Abbott, Kieran Farmer and Cian Murphy go close, a resolute Munchin’s defence held firm.

Sloppiness began to creep into the Pres’ play as they were penalised for simple mistakes. Munchin’s lifted the siege and Airey taught he was in for a try but brought back for a foot in touch just short of the line.

Sustained Munchin’s pressure by their pack saw Kelly touch down for the second time for a 17-10 lead with eleven minutes remaining.
Pres’ came looking for an equalising score but their only reward was a second penalty by Scanlon on sixty four minutes.

With Lee Nicholas marshalling his forwards and scrum half Ben Nugent finding touch with some delightful kicks, it was curtains for Pres’ despite seven minutes of injury time and the final whistle was greeted with ecstasy by the Limerick support.

Scorers P.B.C.: Seamus Glynn try, Rory Scannell con, 2 pens.
St Munchin’s: Eoghan Kelly 2 tries, Edward O’Keeffe try, Shane Airey con.

P.B.C.: Brian Crowley; Josh Barrett, Seamus Glynn, Cian Murphy, Peter O’Brien; Rory Scannell, Philip O’Leary; Aidan Slattery, Max Abbott, David Hartnett; Ross McCarthy, Ian Silke; Ryan Callanan, Kieran Farmer, John Fitzgerald.
Replacements:, Aidan O’Brien, Andrew Cusack, Hugh O’Halloran, Michael Murphy, Stephen McCarthy, Thomas Duggan, Darragh O’Keeffe, Gavin O’Callaghan.
St. Munchin’s College: Cormac O’Donnell; Edward O’Keeffe, Dan Goggin, Tom O’Neill, Diarmuid Morrissey; Shane Airey, Ben Nugent; Eoghan Kelly, Luke O’Halloran, Evan Ryan; Gavin Ryan, Matthew McSweeney; Ezra Nugent, Darren Ryan, Lee Nicholas.
Replacements: Shane Houlihan, Daithi O’Byrne, Daniel Montgomery, Ger Powell, Shane O’Mullan, Ryan Tsang, , Gary Bateman, Jamie Clancy.
Referee: Darragh McCormack (M.A.R.).