Glenstal Abbey (Limerick) 10
Rockwell College (Tipperary) 8
John Keogh reports from the University of Limerick
GLENSTAL ABBEY ARE back in the Munster Schools Senior Cup quarter-finals after edging out 26-times winners Rockwell College 10-8 on a wet and windy day on the 4G pitch in UL.
Rockwell had enjoyed much of the possession and territory in the first half but their only score of that period came from a Jake Flannery penalty.
Last season’s beaten finalists, Glenstal, looked nervous in the opening half but were a much different outfit after the break.
Ben Healy had leveled the game with a straightforward penalty near the half-hour mark, and played a huge hand in Glenstal’s try after the interval.
George Downing’s lung-busting run down the right drew Rockwell’s defence in, and when the ball was released to the backs, Healy spotted the overlap with Ronan Quinn free on the left flank.
Quinn provided a sensational finish to put Glenstal 8-3 ahead. Healy added the extras to stretch the lead to seven.
Ryan O’Sullivan’s 60-metre run and finish brought Rockwell back into it late on, but agonisingly for the Tipp school, Flannery’s touchline conversion sailed wide of the posts.
Rockwell did everything to try and get back into Glenstal territory in the closing stages but it was the Limerick school – yet to win the competition in its 109-year history – who held on for a win they just about deserved.
GLENSTAL: Aran Egan; Andrew Hogan, Harry Benner, Caolan Dooley, Ronan Quinn; Ben Healy, Andrew Walsh; Mark Fleming, Conor Booth, Ronan Leahy, James Fitzgerald, David Kelly, Patrick Prendergast, George Downing, Harry Boland.
Replacements: Mark Walsh for Fitzgerald (43), Donagh Hyland for Boland (48), Niall Quelly for Kelly (53), Eoghan Fitzgerald for Booth (68).
ROCKWELL: Dylan Farrelly; Conor Pearson, Jack Hunt, Andrew Daly, Sean Cotter; Jake Flannery, Oisin Mangan; Stephen Grogan, Jack Harney, Conall Kennedy, Robert Browne, Niall O’Hanrahan, Brendan Ryan, Darragh Molloy, Ciaran Ryan.
Replacements: James O’Meara for Grogan (43), Ryan O’Sullivan for Cotter (43), John O’Sullivan for Mangan (75).
Referee: John Adams (MAR)