Pres Win Bowen Shield

A late comeback saw Presentation Brothers College defeat old rivals Christians Brothers College in the final of the Bowen Shield at Lansdowne on Wednesday.

C.B.C. 17 – 19 P.B.C.

In what was an exciting game of rugby, a try in injury time from Pres’ winger Paul Buckley gave the Western Road side a sweet victory.

Trailing 17-14, Pres’ made one last effort from inside their own half when out-half Peter Sylvester and centre Jack O’Shea combined to send Buckley racing away from the half way line and his strength and speed saw him make it to the corner for his side’s third try.

Buckley was very prominent in the action in the opening half as Pres’ dominated, but for all their pressure, Pres’ had only a try from their other winger Simon O’Brien in the tenth minute which Sylvester converted to show for their efforts.

Christians' were reduced to fourteen three minutes before half-time when their star performer Fergus Hennessy was yellow carded.

From a scrum on the half-way line, substitute Ian Dorney made a great break and linked up with scrum half Adam Coughlan to score in the corner and James Taylor converted to tie the scores.

Two minutes into the second half Christians struck again when Alex Callinan sent Joe Harrington in for a try and Taylor converted.

Midway through the half Taylor landed a magnificent drop goal to extend his side’s lead.

Pres’ were given hope when Jack O’Shea touched down after good play by captain Conor O’Flynn and Harry Shanahan. Sylvester added the extras to leave the score 17-14 in Christians favour.

Twelve minutes from time Taylor was off target with a long range penalty for Christians and four minutes from time Sylvester missed a penalty to level the scores.

Pres’ rallied late on and then came Buckley’s super try to win the game.

C.B.C.: Alex Callinan; David Leonard, Oisin Conway, Joe Harrington, Conor King; James Taylor, Adam Coughlan; Jacob Buckley, Tim Lehane, Ciaran McHugh; Dara O’Donovan, Richard Thompson; Darragh McGinn, Harry O’Shea, Fergus Hennessy.
Replacements: David Singleton, Gary Barrett, Kevin McCarthy, Tadhg Adams, Conor Pratt, Peter O’Riordan, Ian Dorney, Killian O’Sullivan.

P.B.C.: Michael Healy; Paul Buckley, Michael St Ledger, Jack O’Shea, Simon O’Brien; Peter Sylvester, Harry Shanahan; Niall O’Brien, Pierre Matthieu, Cian Scott; Conor O’Flynn, Jack O’Sullivan; Owen O’Sullivan, Brian O’Connor, Jack T O’Sullivan.
Replacements: Ethan Keane, Kevin Morris, Adam McAuliffe, David Duggan, Harry Dillon, Jack Keegan, Tom Fitzgerald, Des Barry.

Referee: Dave O’Flynn (MAR).