Provincial Rugby Roundup

It was the Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Cup competition that dominated the weekend fixtures list with the quarter final lineup now completed.

The game of the day was at Woodleigh Park, where Kilfeacle who were losing finalists for the past two seasons, went out after suffering a 27-24 defeat after extra time against Highfield. Adam Murphy, Paddy Dineen, Noah Patterson and Mark O’Connell scored tries for Highfield and Shane Buckley kicked two conversions and a penalty. Cormac Ryan replied with two tries for the Tipperary side and Kevin Kinnane got one. Luke Heuston converted all three tries and also added a penalty.

In a rip roaring contest at Takumi Park, a late rally saw Old Crescent edge out Garryowen 24-17. The hosts who led 16-12 at the interval, trailed 17-16 two minutes into the second half but a try by Joe McEnery eight minutes from time and a penalty by Glen Kelly gave the home side the victory Dean O’Grady and Lochlainn O’Keeffe scored first half tries for Old Crescent and Ben Davey kicked two penalties.

Muskerry were pushed all the way by Clonmel, before booking their place in the last eight with a 24-19 win at Ballyanly. Shane Riordan gave Muskerry an early lead with a try, but Clonmel were level minutes later with a try by Davey Coyne. Rob Cahill put Muskerry back in front with a penalty and a try by Aaron Desmond and three more penalties by Cahill saw the home side retain the lead until the final whistle. Clonmel did rally towards the end of the contest with tries by Harry Lane and Michael Connellan, both of which Connellan converted.

Nenagh Ormond were pushed all the way by St. Mary’s before emerging 27-17 winners at Grove Island. Joseph Gleeson, Brian O’Rourke and Ryan Thompson scored tries for Nenagh Evan Fitzpatrick converted all three tries and also kicked two penalties. Tyrone O’Halloran and James O’Brien replied with tries for the Saints and Adam Guerin kicked two conversions and a penalty.

Holders UCC had a comfortable 38-5 home win over Cobh Pirates.  Rory Shaughnessy, Tom Coughlan (2), Harry Coughlan, Johnny O’Shea and Liam Ormond were the College try scorers. Rian O’Donoghue and James Wixted each kicked two conversions. Charlie Rasmussen was the Pirates try scorer.

Shannon  proved too strong for Bandon at the west Cork venue winning 25-10. Sam Birrane, Jack O’Donnell and Callum Black were the Shannon try scorers and Cillian O’Conor kicked two conversions and two penalties. Gearoid O’Leary scored a try for Bandon, which Dylan Barr converted and Hugh O’Mahony kicked a penalty.

Cork Constitution proved much too strong for a weakened Division Three champions Carrick-on-Suir side at Temple Hill with a 64-3 win The home side who led 46-3 at half time had two tries each from Rory Byrne, George Good and David Bamidele. Aidan Moynihan, James Keohane, Luke Sisk, Cian Barry, Jacob Sheahan and Johnny Murphy were their other try scorers. Moynihan kicked two conversions. Neil Moriarty replied with a penalty for Carrick’.

The quarter final line up is Nenagh Ormond v Thomond (30^th March), and the other three ties Cork Constitution v U.C.C., Old Crescent v Highfield and Shannon v Muskerry are scheduled for 6^th April.

In a thrilling Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Plate semi-final, a last minute penalty from Niall Leahy in extra time gave Clanwilliam a 30-27 away victory against Killarney and a final meeting against either St. Senan’s or Bruff. Jack Quinlan scored two tries for the Tipperary Town side and Darragh Crowe and Gavin Downey got one apiece. Leahy converted the two tries and also added another penalty. Tomas Clifford replied with three tries for Killarney and Dave Howard and Stephen Dalton got one each. Finn Kennelly kicked one conversion.

Youghal booked their place in the Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Bowl Final with a 22-10 away win at Scariff. Bobby Nicholson scored three tries for Youghal and Nathan O’Halloran kicked two conversions and a penalty. Sean Tracey replied with two tries for Scariff.

On the other side of the draw, Waterford City booked their semi- final place with a 16-6 away win at Castleisland.  Hayden Casey and Seaghan Walsh scored tries for the Suirsiders and Mikey O’Connor kicked two penalties. Joe Sheehy replied with two penalties for Castleisland.

Thomond won the Junior Clubs Challenge Cup with a narrow 18-17 victory over Richmond at the Canal Bank. Ryain Aherne scored Thomond’s second try and Jason Kiely kicked two penalties and a conversion. Sean Bennett scored two tries for Richmond and Keith McCarthy one. Mike O’Mara kicked one conversion for the hosts.

St. Senan’s defeated Old Christians 41-39 in the semi-final of the Junior Clubs Challenge Shield at Jim Slattery Park. Dan Kelleher scored two tries for the visitors, and Cian Walsh, Laszio Rabatin and Jack Lonergan got a try each. Harry Martin kicked three conversions and two penalties and Rabatin a conversion.

In the only league played Charleville defeated Abbeyfeale 41-12, a result that means that Abbeyfeale finish third bottom in the Second Division. Cathal Canning scored two tries for Charleville and Charlie Collins, Brian Forde and Luiz Freitas Almeida got one each. Jesse Smith kicked three conversions and two penalties, and Kian Smith added two conversions.