Victory for PBC in Schools Barry Cup Final.

Presentation College regained the Barry Cup with a deserved win over arch rivals C.B.C. at rain soaked Wilton.

P.B.C. 13, C.B.C. 3;
Pres’ elected to play with the elements in the opening half and it proved to be a correct decision as Christians were on the back foot for long periods in the opening thirty five minutes and had also to face the strong driving wind and rain, but the Sydney Hill College did not have these benefits in the second half.

The Pres’ pack settled into the game quickly with skipper Brian O’Connor, Graham Collins and Killian Kingston making some driving runs at the Christians defence in the opening period.

Pres’ first attack which came after five minutes, when quick ball was spread out the back line saw winger James Kiernan being foot tripped as he rounded his opposite number and from the resulting penalty Pat Deasy converted.

A great break by Christians winger Justin Cronin from inside his own Twenty Two brought play into the Pres’ half , which resulted in a Christians penalty but Rob Gray’s kick into the driving elements was wide of the posts.

Deasy added a second penalty after twelve minutes to increase his side’s lead.

A great break by scrum half Eoin O’Shaughnessy on the blind side of a scrum set up a ruck on the Christians Twenty Two and quick ball out the back line saw Ian O’Donoghue go in for a try which Deasy converted for a 13-0 half time lead.

Pres’ laid siege to the Christians line in the opening stages of the second half but great defeensive work by Bryan Desmond, Jack Daly and Ian Whelan kept the home side out.

This gave Christians confidence and they came more into the game but were unable to get into strong attacking positins or when they did conceeded penalties at crucial stages.

Pres’ were panicking at this stage and they were penalised several times but not in kickable positions. Gray eventually found the target with a penalty kick mid way through the half and his only other effort on goal nine minutes from time went wide of the target.

Pres’ took control in the final minutes and played out time in their opponents half.

Both Coaches were full of praise for this competition and think that it should be expanded to include the B Schools.

Scorers P.B.C.: I O’Donoghue try, P Deasy 2 pens, con.
C.B.C.: R Gray pen.

P.B.C.:P Deasy; J O’Mahony, I O’Donoghue, C Banon, J Kiernan; E Mills, E O’Shaughnessy; S Lynch, B O’Connor (capt), G Collins; R Casey, P McKenna; K Ryan, A Hudson K Kingston.
Replacement: F Dineen for Lynch.
C.B.C.: N O’Connell; R Gray, S Keohane, J Sullivan, J Cronin; G Higgins, E Quirke; V O’Donovan, D O’Driscoll, G O’Gorman; M Sullivan, K Frost; B Desmond, J Daly,I Whelan.
Replacements:C Keogh for M Sullivan, C Healy for O’Connell, S O’Sullivan for J Sullivan.
Referee:S Kierans (M.A.R.)

AFTER MATCH REACTION

P.B.C. Coach Don Buckley
“We started very well. We controlled matters in the first half and we set out to dominate territory and I think that is what we did. In the first half we kicked reasonably well and our first up defence was good.
We got the benefit of a good start with two good penaltiesfrom Pat Deasy and a very good try from Ian, with good setup play initially and finished brilliantly.
We panicked a small bit just after half time . We had a foot hold in the Christians Twenty two and we should have scored there and it led to a very panicky fifteen to twenty minutes. Typical Christians they never give it up easy and they came at us wave after wave. I am very proud of the way we defended, very disciplined and put in some very big hits. The deserving team won in the end.
I know other schools might not take this competition as serious as we do for obvious reasons as the Barrys were an intergal part of Pres’ history.
For these guys they will tell you that this is the biggest day in some of their lives. They have been soldering together, a lot of them for six years in Pres’ and they regard it as their competition as Christians I am sure would agree the same. For us it is a great preparation for the Senior Cup and unfortunatly it dragged on this year because of the weather and should have been over a few weeks ago, but that in no way lesens its value in any shape or form”.

C.B.C. Coach Peter Melia.
“Overall two very evenly matched sides. It was a typical Cup final between the two schools and had a real good ebb and flow about it.
Pres’ dominated for periods and we dominated for periods. They were more clinical at the end of the day. The terrirorial possession dominance they exerted during the game brought them thirteen points and when we had it we only got three points. That is Cup rugby.
This is a very good competition and we use a lot of players and maybe some of the B Schools should be playing in it as well to give them a stepping stone up to the Senior Cup”.