Bank Of Ireland Munster Senior Challenge Cup Final Preview

Whatever the outcome of this weekend’s game; there is going to be a new winner of the Bank of Ireland Munster Senior Challenge Cup. Neither Nenagh Ormond nor Old Crescent have lifted the trophy before.

Tickets for the clash can be found here.

It will be the fourth outing for the Takumi Park club in the Final; while Nenagh are in their second final and are aiming to be the first Tipperary club to claim this piece of silverware.

Both clubs got through the group stages in style back in September. Old Crescent were in a three team group; and got off to an excellent start when they defeated Dolphin 31-26 in a thrilling opener. Crescent got tries through Werner Hoffman, Daithi Byrnes, John Hurley and Brian Molloy. An excellent kicking performance by Ronan McKenna proved crucial as he scored 11 points.

A tough away game to Midleton followed with a 24-16 victory guaranteeing Crescent’s place in the last four. Sam Hanrahan and John Hurley scored early tries, but the game was tied late on. The Limerick team showed great fitness and determination to snatch victory with tries from Dara O’Brian and Brian Molloy.

Nenagh faced their toughest of their three group games in the opening round as they travelled to play Highfield. Cormac O’Shaughnessy was the hero with two tires as the Tipp’ visitors won out 29-22, with Willie Coffey and Nick Irwin also touching down.

They then hosted Cork Constitution; a formidable force and looked to be in trouble as they trailed 12-0. Nenagh though produced a resounding display to win emphatically 31-12. O’Shaughnessy again scored a brace, with Patrick Scully, Kevin O’Flaherty and Josh Rowland secured the victory with Conor McMahon kicking three conversion.

The Tipp; club guaranteed their place with a dominant 45-5 win over Shannon. Willie Coffey getting two of his side’s seven tries. Matthew Burke, John O’Flaherty, Angus Blackmore, Brian O’Rourke and Charlie O’Doherty also touched down.

In the first semi-final, Old Crescent produced a scintillating display in the final quarter of an hour to dispatch Clonmel at Takumi Park on a scoreline of 36-5. The final score was a bit misleading to he flow of the game as the Limerick side held just an 8-0 lead after 65 minutes. However; a flurry of tries saw them pull away to the delight of the home support. Jamie Duggan ran in for two tries with Joel McEnery, Karl Madden and Ben Davey also dotting down while  McKenna finished with 11 points from the boot.

In the other semi; Nenagh gained vengeance on Young Munster for their heartbreaking defeat in the final two years ago. Despite having the better of the general play in the first-half, Nenagh trailed 23-19 at the break. Tries by David Gleeson, Rob Buckley and Conor O’Shaughnessy put them in a strong position with McMahon kicking two conversions.

The lead kept changing hands in the second half, with Josh Rowland scoring an early try. McMahon converted and kicked two late penalties to help his team secure a thrilling 32-31 victory.