Munchin’s Ease Past Glenstal Into Quarters

St Munchin’s College booked their spot in the Clayton Hotels Munster Schools Junior Cup quarter-finals following a convincing win over Glenstal Abbey at the University of Limerick on Thursday afternoon.

St Munchin's 20-3 Glenstal Abbey
by Ronan Calvert

Right from the off, Munchin’s underlined their intentions. The Corbally schoolboys carried forward with purpose before passing the ball through the hands for the first time and finding outh-alf Craig Carew in space to score.

The try was a sign of things to come but Glenstal’s Taylor Gleeson kept Munchin’s honest by knocking over a penalty minutes later to make it 5-3 – as it remained for a fair portion of the first half.

However, Munchin’s would find joy by going wide once again before the first 35 passed. Josh Campbell this time the try-scorer. Munchins 10-3 Glenstal at the break.

At the restart, Glenstal carried their late first half pressure into the second. The Murroe men mauled into Munchin’s territory, challenged the defence and eventually crossed the line, only to be held up by a gallant piece of defence from Munchin’s. In the aftermath of the attack, players from both sides dropped with injuries, allowing Munchin’s to regroup as any Glenstal momentum was lost. The ability to convert chances into points was the difference between the two sides and this was one such significant mental blow for the trailing side.

In contrast, Munchin’s made their time in possession count. With just ten minutes left to play, Craig Carew made a superb break before finding outside centre Keith McInerney with an offload. McInerney did the necessary and darted into the corner to put the score beyond doubt. 15-3.

Five minutes on and Munchin’s put the icing on the cake. A scrum was called deep into Glenstal’s 22 following a barging carry from replacement Craig Finn, his fellow forwards drove over the ball and a pass or two later Ewan O’Brien found his way under the sticks to cap off an excellent all-round performance.

The Junior Cup quarter-final draw took place afterwards with full details here.

Glenstal Abbey
1. Donagh Hyland
2. Matthew Cannon
3. Max Downing
4. Keith Floyd
5. Adam White
6. Cormac Frawley
7. Tom Rooney
8. Niall Queally
9. Marcus Esmonde
10. Taylor Gleeson
11. Aiden Booth
12. William Twomey (C)
13. Cian O'Farrell
14. Darragh Hanley
15. Ruairi Woodcock

Replacements from: 16. Sean Carey, 17. Denis Hayes, 18. Seamus Kerrisk, 19. Uiseann Cooke, 20. Peter Fahy, 21. Harry Swan, 22. Art Keane, 23. Jack Collins, 24. Tim Murphy, 25. Muiris Bulaeir.

St Munchin's College
1. Nathan Walsh
2. Sean Airey
3. Niall McNamara
4. Conor Duggan
5. Liam Nielan
6. Dylan Higgins
7. Ewan O'Brien
8. Conor Nesbitt (C)
9. Jamie Ryan
10. Craig Carew
11. Jamie Butler
12. Darragh Long
13. Keith McInerney
14. Joshua Campbell
15. Dean Callinan

Replacements from: 16. Joachim Clohessy, 17. Sean Mason, 18. Craig Finn, 19. Graham Kirwan, 20. Sean Nestor, 21. Darragh Slattery, 22. Conor O'Brien Comerford, 23. Kacper Kucz, 24. Myles Lawler, 25. Nathan Shaughnessy.