Young Munster Do Cup Double
1st May 2022 By Leonard Allen
Young Munster celebrate with the Bank of Ireland Junior Cup trophy.
Young Munster won their ninth Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Cup title with a 35-24 win over Thomond at Takumi Park and with this did a Cup double in the Senior and Junior competitions, last done by the club in 1984.
The winners did all the damage in the opening half building up a 28-0 interval lead but Thomond left themselves with too much to do after the break.
A great start by Young Munster saw a break by Luke Fitzgerald setup Donnacha O’Callaghan for a try under the posts and Shane O’Brien converted.
Substitute winger Conor O’Shaughnessy extended “The Cookies” lead with a try following a cross-field kick and O’Brien converted.
Munster’s continued to control the game and further tries by Bailey Faloon and Paul Allen both converted by O’Brien saw Young Munster lead 28-0 at halftime.
Mike McMahon opened Thomond’s account with a try early in the second half and Adam Guerin converted. A second Thomond try from Eoghan Sherlock closed the gap to 28-12.
Further Thomond pressure was rewarded with a try from Evan O’Connor which Guerin converted, but Young Munster responded with a try from Conor Moloney and Shane O’Brien converted to give “The Cookies” a 35-19 lead with ten minutes remaining.
Aaron Rice scored a fourth Thomond try in the closing minutes but it was Young Munster who were celebrating at the final whistle.
Thomond: Gary Bateman; Berto Kelly, Eoghan Sherlock,Evan O’Connor, Darragh O’Neill; Adam Guerin, Aaron Rice; Nigel Clancy, Colin Slater, Jordan O’Donnell; Conor Radcliffe, Mike McMahon; Evan Sheehan, Shane Kelly, Kealan O’Shea.
Replacements: Jack O’Shea, Darren Radcliffe, Maksymilian Zerdel, Dean Cronin, Callum Walters.
Young Munster: Jason Kiely; Stephen Lyons, Patrick Ryan, Luke Fitzgerald, Conor Philips; Shane O’Brien, Donnacha O’Callaghan; Paul Allen, Shane Malone, Colm Skehan; James Horrigan, Craig Hannon; Conor Moloney, Liam Neilan, Bailey Faloon.
Replacements: Kean Sheehy, Gary Hoban, Jack Cosgrave, Aidan Quinlivan, Conor O’Shaughnessy.
Referee: David O’Leary (MAR).
