Schools Cup Roundup

It was a busy day for schools cup rugby with three matches taking place today.

First up it was the Munster Schools Girls Junior Cup semi-final between St Anne’s Community College and Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí which took place in UL.

St Anne’s Community College 17 – 22 Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí – Munster Schools Girls Junior Cup

The West Cork school defeated last year’s champions St Anne’s 17-22 to secure their spot in the final where they will meet the winners of tomorrow’s semi-final between Sacred Heart Clonakilty and Ardscoil Mhuire.

Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí took a 0-10 lead thanks to a penalty from out-half Abbey Connolly before Mary Fox crossed for a try which was converted by Connolly.

St Anne’s hit back with an unconverted try before Bantry stretched out their lead to 17-5 thanks to a converted try. Bantry went 22-5 ahead before St Anne’s hit back with two tries, one which was converted but it wasn’t enough as Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí won out 17-22 to secure their passage to the final.

St Anne’s Community College: Louise Fahy; Lucy Pearl, Evie Hass, Muireann Houlihan, Isobel Quinn; Emer Gilmartin, Charlie Dillon; Holly Ryan, Clara Bigot, Emily Darcy; Aoibheann McArthur, Meg Mulcahy; Clodagh Ryan, Siofra Minogue, Ellie Hennelly.

Replacements: Saoirse Slattery, Lilly Parks, Ciara Power, Molly Ann Darcy, Muireann Coleman, Mya Byrnes, Amelia Lawlor Byrnes, Clara Moroney.

Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí: Belle O’Donoghue; Sophie O’Shea, Ciara Kelly, Alice O’Donovan, Seren Lehane; Abbey Connolly, Grace Cronin; Leah Barry, Maggie Murray, Gracie O’Connor; Annie Doody, Lucy Donaldson; Mary Fox, Caoimhe McCarthy, Muireann McCarthy.

Replacements: Amy Coughlan, Grace Keane, Niamh Thorpe, Niamh Healy, Aoife Myler, Keelyn O’Connor, Ellie O’Connor, Nicol Lenazun.

Bandon Grammar School 20 – 28 PBC – Munster Schools Boys Junior Cup

PBC will meet CBC in the final of this season’s Munster Schools Boys Junior Cup after securing a 20-28 win over Bandon Grammar School at Virgin Media Park this afternoon.

PBC get their opening try through Tom Murray when he crashed over after his side went through a number of phases close to the Bandon line. Daniel Murphy notched the conversion to give his side an early 0-7 lead.

Bandon hit back when Illan Smith intercepted a loose PBC pass before racing clear to score under the posts. Jamie Hicks converted the try to tie the game.

PBC regained their lead when Alex Moloney ran a hard line to go over for his side’s second try which was converted by Murphy.

In the second half, Murphy then got a try for himself after he raced away from the halfway line to dot down. He converted his own try to stretch out the lead to 7-21.

Hicks added a penalty for Bandon to reduce the deficit to 10-21 before Moloney got his second try when he scored under the posts which Murphy converted to give Pres a 10-28 lead.

Bandon kept fighting and the scored two unconverted tries through Alexander Bramoullé and Sam Barry but it wasn’t enough as PBC ran out 20-28 winners.

Bandon Grammar: Harry McCourt; Jamie Hicks, Illan Smith, David Fuller, Nathan van der Westhuizen; Sam Barry, Lewis Linehan; Jack Deasy, Adam Barry, Jack van Niekerk; James Symington, Scott Brady; Aaron White, Aidan Gambura, Daniel Hyde.

Replacements: Robert Hall, Mark Whelton, Matthew Buttimer, Daniel Kent, Ciaran Beecher, Fionn Lucey, Brian McLaughlin, Alexander Bramoulle, Charlie Johnston, Robert Long.

PBC: Daniel Murphy; Jack Ryan, Alex Moloney, Harry Galvin Carty, Gearóid Coughlan; David Nolan, Liam O’Brien; Darragh O’Mahoney, Ronan Twomey, Rory Cahill; Conor McLoughlin, Rian McFarlane O’Shea; Billy O’Connell, Bobby Waters, Tom Murray.

Replacements: Odhran O’Keeffe, Nathan MacCarthy, Billy St Leger, Ronan Dillon, Donnacha Leane, Tom Kelly, Cali Sheahan, Oscar Naughton, Robert Sheehan, Matthew McCarthy.

St Anne’s Community College 12 – 13 Sacred Heart Clonakilty | Pinergy Munster Schools Girls Senior Cup Semi-Final

It won’t be a three-in-a-row of senior cup titles for St Anne’s Community College as they lost out by the narrowest of margins to Sacred Heart Clonakilty.

These sides met last season in the first round with St Anne’s winning out 32-17 but this time it was the West Cork school who earned the bragging rights.

Clonakilty’s Emer Moroney opened the scoring with a try for her school which went unconverted.

The wet conditions made handling difficult but St Anne’s managed to hit back in the first half when Amy Lynch crossed for a try which was converted by Emily Byrne.

This gave St Anne’s a 7-5 lead going into the half-time interval.

Mia Hennelly, who was recently called up to the Ireland U18 squad, increased St Anne’s lead with a try which went unconverted.

The West Cork school battled back when centre Kate Nolan crossed for a try.

The conversion was unsuccessful which meant St Anne’s still held a two-point advantage but out-half Rachel Twomey notched a penalty to secure her side’s passage into the final where they will meet the winners of tomorrow’s semi-final between Coláiste Muire Ennis and Intermediate School Killorglin.

St Anne’s Community College: Aoife Coleman; Sarah McNamara, Anna Hanly, Mia Hennelly, Hannah O’Shaughnessy; Emily Byrne, Rebecca Rogers; Alice Walsh, Aoibhe Slevin, Amy Lynch; Ellie McEvoy, Roisín Mockler; Alannah O’Donovan, Karen O’Mahony, Tuathla Ryan.

Replacements: Jessica Duggan, Rosie Brown, Amy Reilly, Leanne Rodgers, Sophie O’Neill, Sarah McEvoy, Alana McKeogh, Natasha Crotty, Patricia Mcwey, Poppy McNamara.

Sacred Heart Clonakilty: Solene Skupiewski; Clodagh McCarthy, Ella O’Sullivan, Kate Nolan, Tara Fleming; Rachel Twomey, Caoimhe McCarthy; Sara O’Sullivan, Orla Whelton, Amy Giles; Leona Arra, Éabha Egan; Kate Burton, Roxanne Llewellyn, Emer Moroney.

Replacements: Alison McCarthy, Emily Moloney, Aoife Godwin-Coombs, Alison Brennan, Charlotte McCabe, Olivia Lawlor, Eavan Boyle, Annabel Tapia, Orlaith Finn, Aisling Dinneen.