IT WILL BE an all-Cork final in the Munster Schools Senior Cup final for the third year in a row after PBC booked their ticket to face old rivals CBC.
Pres couldn’t find their usual precision for long spells but three second-half tries from Rian MacFarlane O’Shea, Liam Hegarty, and Deckie Fitzgerald secured a 14-point victory over Castletroy College.
The Limerick students deserve huge credit for disrupting PBC’s free-flowing brand of rugby with accurate tackling and brilliant breakdown work from the likes of captain Cillian McNamara and Adam Power to go in 7-all at the break.
But they couldn’t stop the Mardyke school making it six consecutive semi-final wins in the end.
Castletroy’s James Rennison had an eventful start, culminating in his sixth-minute intercept try.
First, he launched into a thumping tackle, which saw the winger panned out on the ground with a replacement ready until he regained his breath to carry on.
On the very next play, Rennison read Pres’ intentions to pick off a pass on halfway for a 50-metre run-in. Liam Glynn’s conversion made it a seven-point head start.
They looked to extend that lead further but lost a line-out inside the 22 and Pres countered through Rickey Barrett and Eddie Dooley. An end-to-end try looked likely but Robbie Widger scrambled back to intercept the final pass.
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It was only a temporary escape as Pres returned from the clearing kick. Daniel Higgins’ offload missed its intended target but Alex Moloney swept around the outside to pick up the pieces and Daniel Murphy levelled with the conversion.
Backed by a swirling wind, Castletroy went down the other end to set up camp on the Pres line from a five-metre tap-and-go. They couldn’t touch down as hard work from Moloney and Higgins held the ball up over the line.
Pres were next to lay siege on the Castletroy goalline. Held up at first, they got a second chance from a tap-and-go penalty. They went wide but Robert O’Donnell chopped down the charging James O’Leary and Rennison made the next stop on Cormac Bohan, who was pinged for a double movement as he reached for the corner.
It stayed 7-all at half-time and well into the second half as errors continued to interrupt the play.
From an offside penalty, Pres turned down kick at the posts for a scrum only to knock on.
They were handed a gift-wrapped second chance when Castletroy were penalised for early engagement. Ronan Byrd gained 20 metres from a quick tap and number eight Rian MacFarlane O’Shea broke through for the 51st-minute touchdown. Murphy added the extras for a 14-7 lead.
When Castletroy won a penalty on the 22 for a high tackle, they opted for a kick at the posts which Glynn slotted to cut the deficit to four.
Pres went for the jugular as their maul broke into a sprint towards the Castletroy line. Their charge was illegally stopped and Pres reloaded for another shove.
Denis Murphy took the line-out and a clever change of direction allowed Liam Hegarty to march over at the back of the maul. Daniel Murphy’s conversion missed to leave it 19-10.
As the clock entered the red and Castletroy were forced to play from inside their own 22, Deckie Fitzgerald nicked a walk-in intercept try to round out the scoring.
Scorers
PBC
Tries: Alex Moloney, Rian MacFarlane O’Shea, Liam Hegarty, Deckie Fitzgerald
Cons: Daniel Murphy 2.
Castletroy College
Try: James Rennison
Con: Liam Glynn
Pen: Liam Glynn.
PBC: Rickey Barrett; Daniel Murphy, Alex Moloney, James O’Leary (capt), Eddie Dooley (Bobby O’Callaghan 36); Deckie Fitzgerald, Ronan Byrd; Mikey Fitzgerald (Fionn O’Sullivan 43), Daniel Higgins (Liam Hegarty 43), Diarmuid Sheehy (Ben Foley 66); Olan Dillon (Tom Murray 66), Seán MacFarlane O’Shea (Daniel Foley 36); Denis Murphy, Cormac Bohan, Rian MacFarlane O’Shea.
Castleroy College: Robbie Widger; James Rennison, Seán Lyons (Robert Sheehan 46), Joel Rowntree, Robert O’Donnell; Liam Glynn, James O’Malley; Jamie Conway, Jack O’Gorman (Kevin Griffin 36), Trevor Tchokotieu; Ben Fogarty, Adam Power; Ben O’Connell, Rowan Brady, Cillian McNamara (capt) (Jack O’Gorman 68-69).
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Munster Senior Cup set for third all-Cork final in a row as PBC book date with CBC
Presentation Brothers Cork [PBC] 24
Castletroy College 10
Stephen Barry reports from Virgin Media Park
IT WILL BE an all-Cork final in the Munster Schools Senior Cup final for the third year in a row after PBC booked their ticket to face old rivals CBC.
Pres couldn’t find their usual precision for long spells but three second-half tries from Rian MacFarlane O’Shea, Liam Hegarty, and Deckie Fitzgerald secured a 14-point victory over Castletroy College.
The Limerick students deserve huge credit for disrupting PBC’s free-flowing brand of rugby with accurate tackling and brilliant breakdown work from the likes of captain Cillian McNamara and Adam Power to go in 7-all at the break.
But they couldn’t stop the Mardyke school making it six consecutive semi-final wins in the end.
Castletroy’s James Rennison had an eventful start, culminating in his sixth-minute intercept try.
First, he launched into a thumping tackle, which saw the winger panned out on the ground with a replacement ready until he regained his breath to carry on.
On the very next play, Rennison read Pres’ intentions to pick off a pass on halfway for a 50-metre run-in. Liam Glynn’s conversion made it a seven-point head start.
They looked to extend that lead further but lost a line-out inside the 22 and Pres countered through Rickey Barrett and Eddie Dooley. An end-to-end try looked likely but Robbie Widger scrambled back to intercept the final pass.
It was only a temporary escape as Pres returned from the clearing kick. Daniel Higgins’ offload missed its intended target but Alex Moloney swept around the outside to pick up the pieces and Daniel Murphy levelled with the conversion.
Backed by a swirling wind, Castletroy went down the other end to set up camp on the Pres line from a five-metre tap-and-go. They couldn’t touch down as hard work from Moloney and Higgins held the ball up over the line.
Pres were next to lay siege on the Castletroy goalline. Held up at first, they got a second chance from a tap-and-go penalty. They went wide but Robert O’Donnell chopped down the charging James O’Leary and Rennison made the next stop on Cormac Bohan, who was pinged for a double movement as he reached for the corner.
It stayed 7-all at half-time and well into the second half as errors continued to interrupt the play.
From an offside penalty, Pres turned down kick at the posts for a scrum only to knock on.
They were handed a gift-wrapped second chance when Castletroy were penalised for early engagement. Ronan Byrd gained 20 metres from a quick tap and number eight Rian MacFarlane O’Shea broke through for the 51st-minute touchdown. Murphy added the extras for a 14-7 lead.
When Castletroy won a penalty on the 22 for a high tackle, they opted for a kick at the posts which Glynn slotted to cut the deficit to four.
Pres went for the jugular as their maul broke into a sprint towards the Castletroy line. Their charge was illegally stopped and Pres reloaded for another shove.
Denis Murphy took the line-out and a clever change of direction allowed Liam Hegarty to march over at the back of the maul. Daniel Murphy’s conversion missed to leave it 19-10.
As the clock entered the red and Castletroy were forced to play from inside their own 22, Deckie Fitzgerald nicked a walk-in intercept try to round out the scoring.
Scorers
PBC
Tries: Alex Moloney, Rian MacFarlane O’Shea, Liam Hegarty, Deckie Fitzgerald
Cons: Daniel Murphy 2.
Castletroy College
Try: James Rennison
Con: Liam Glynn
Pen: Liam Glynn.
PBC: Rickey Barrett; Daniel Murphy, Alex Moloney, James O’Leary (capt), Eddie Dooley (Bobby O’Callaghan 36); Deckie Fitzgerald, Ronan Byrd; Mikey Fitzgerald (Fionn O’Sullivan 43), Daniel Higgins (Liam Hegarty 43), Diarmuid Sheehy (Ben Foley 66); Olan Dillon (Tom Murray 66), Seán MacFarlane O’Shea (Daniel Foley 36); Denis Murphy, Cormac Bohan, Rian MacFarlane O’Shea.
Castleroy College: Robbie Widger; James Rennison, Seán Lyons (Robert Sheehan 46), Joel Rowntree, Robert O’Donnell; Liam Glynn, James O’Malley; Jamie Conway, Jack O’Gorman (Kevin Griffin 36), Trevor Tchokotieu; Ben Fogarty, Adam Power; Ben O’Connell, Rowan Brady, Cillian McNamara (capt) (Jack O’Gorman 68-69).
Referee: Paudie Sheehan (MAR).
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Castleroy College marching on Munster Schools Senior Cup pbc Rugby