Bank of Ireland Men’s Junior Competitions Roundup

It was Cup action that dominated the Men’s Junior Club Rugby scene this weekend with action in the Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Cup, Plate and Bowl that produced some exciting ties.

Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Cup holders Highfield made their exit after a narrow 22-21 defeat by Shannon in Limerick. Shannon did all the damage in the opening half as they raced into a 22-0 half time lead with tries from John Moloney, David Smith and Killian Corkery. Ben Sargent converted two of the tries and also added a penalty. It was only in the final ten minutes that Highfield put up a fight with tries from Michael Dillane, Mark Fitzgerald and Liam Fahy. Ian O’Donoghue converted all three but time ran out on the Cork side.

Having won the Junior Clubs Challenge Cup and Junior League titles for the first time in the last two weeks, a slow start was to prove costly for Newcastle West as they lost at home to Thomond 24-20. Charlie O’Doherty put Newcastle West ahead with a penalty put Thomond hit back with tries from Aaron Rice and Gary Bateman both of which Adam Guerin converted. Guerin also kicked a penalty before the home side got back into the contest with tries from Alex O’Halloran and Sean Corbett, one of which O’Doherty converted to close the gap to two points. Jake Connolly extended Thomond’s advantage with a try and Guerin converted but a try by Shane Airey was not enough to keep Newcastle West’s dream of a clean sweep alive.

Thomond will now be away to Shannon in the quarter finals.

Ennis caused another upset in their great run in this season’s competition, when a try from MJ Malone in added time earned them a 25-23 away win at Tralee. Sean Hayes and Cian Guilfoyle also scored tries for Ennis. Hayes kicked a conversion and Colm Kearney kicked two penalties and a conversion. Dan O’Connor and Ben Glavin replied with tries for Tralee and Seamus Lyne converted both and also added three penalties.

Ennis will now travel to Young Munster in the last eight after the Limerick side proved too strong for Clanwilliam at the Tipperary venue, emerging 31-19 winners. James McKeogh, Conor O’Shaughnessy, Dylan Bresnahan and Shane O’Brien were try scorers for Young Munster and O’Brien converted all four tries and also added a penalty. Jack Ryan, Bryan O’Rahelly and Gavin Downey replied with tries for Clanwilliam and Niall Leahy added two conversions.

In a thriller at Kanturk an injury time try by John Connaughton converted by Jimmy Glynn earned Mallow a 24-19 victory. Tries by Jimmy Glynn and Sean Glynn and a Jimmy Glynn conversion gave Mallow a 12-0 interval lead. Kanturk came storming back after the break with tries by Olan Daly, Sean Walsh and Colin Walsh, two of which Paul O’Keeffe converted. A late rally by Mallow in the closing stages that produced two tries, the first by Stephen Hayes earned Mallow a home quarter final against Muskerry.

Muskerry booked their place in the last eight with a 28-19 win over Old Christians at Rathcooney. Liam Donovan, Eoin O’Leary, Dave Kiely and Tom Griffin scored tries for Muskerry and Rob Cahill converted all four. Jim Ahern, Sean Kelly and Matthew O’Connell replied with tries for the home side and Ryan O’Connell kicked two conversions.

Bandon booked their place in the last eight with a home tie against Kilfeacle or U.L. Bohemian after their 25-14 home win over Garryowen. Bandon led 22-0 at half time with tries from Santiago Gonzalez, Matthew Crowley and Ben Ridgeway, with Ridgeway kicking two conversions and a penalty, Ridgeway added a second penalty after the interval.

In the Bank of Ireland Muster Junior Plate Midleton and Thurles reached the semi-finals. Midleton booked their place with a 26-21 home win over Ballincollig. Stephen England, Josh Deady, Martin O’Driscoll and Mark Stanton were Midleton’s try scorers and Michael White kicked three conversions. Two tries by Liam McGarry and one by Glenn Murphy all converted by Shane Buckley were not enough to keep Ballincollig in the tie.

Thurles proved too strong for Killorglin emerging 48-12 winners. Eoghan O’Dwyer, Eoin Byrne and Cathal Hayes each scored two tries for Thurles and Colin Nolan and Paddy McGrath got one each. Seamus Houlihan  kicked four conversions. Cormac Doyle and Shane O’Neill replied with tries for Killorglin and Luke O’Shea added one conversion.

Waterford City booked their place in the last four of the Bank of Ireland Muster Junior Bowl after their 24-15 home win over Douglas. NJ Carlson scored two tries for the winners and Danny Collins and Andrew Condron got one each. Jack Jacob kicked two conversions. Cian Twomey and Stephen Dolan replied with tries for Douglas. Eoin Philpott kicked a conversion and Cathal Fanning a penalty.

Crosshaven finished top of Section B of the Munster Junior League after their 22-12 bonus point away win at Galbally. Jack O’Connell scored two tries for the winners Keelan Daly and Ryan O’Mahony got one each, with Daly adding one conversion. Brendan Childs and Frank Cushion replied with tries for Galbally and John Keirins kicked a conversion.

Charleville defeated Dungarvan 43-24 in Section C. Jake Madigan scored three tries for the winners and Mattie O’Neill, Jessie Smith and PJ O’Connor got one each. Smith kicked three penalties and two conversions. Mark Hayes, Joey Doherty, Daniel Slevin and Lar Houlihan replied with tries for Dungarvan and Michael Hayes kicked two conversions.

Cobh Pirates took another step closer to finishing top of Section D after their 26-10 away win at Mitchelstown. A try from Josh Evans and a conversion and a penalty by Pa Magee gave Mitchelstown a 10-0 half time lead. Tries by Ben Kennedy, Cian Ahern, Kevin Murphy and Storm LeRoux, three of which Rory Pearce converted ensured victory for the visitors.

See the full results from the weekend here.