Sunday’s Well 14

Bandon 26

BANDON have qualified for the quarter final of the Bank of Ireland Munster Club Under 18 Cup as they defeated Sunday’s Well in last Saturday’s encounter at the Tramore Valley Park. 

The Musgrave Park side will be playing in the Munster Club Under 18 Development Cup.

The West Cork side made the most of wind advantage in the opening half as all of their scores came in this period and they were held scoreless after the interval as they had to withstand a rally by Sunday’s Well.

Bandon had the Musgrave Park side on the back foot from the kick-off and they opened the scoring in the third minute when the ball was spread out to Conor Ustianowski following a maul on the Sunday’s Well 22 for a try next to the posts. Dylan Barr followed it up with the simple conversion.

Counter rucking deep inside the Sunday’ Well 22 yielded a try in the corner for Hugh O’Mahony, which Barr failed to convert, to increase the West Cork side’s lead to 12 points.

Sunday’s Well began to turn the screw as Finn Larsson and Mikey O’Connell were winning lineout ball. They also looked to play open running rugby as Daniel Roche ran at the Bandon defence, but the West Cork side kept their line intact as Adam Casey pulled of some robust tackles.

Bandon had the Musgrave Park side back on the defensive midway through the opening half, but set-piece infringements on the Sunday’s Well 22 were proving to be costly.

The Musgrave Park side worked the ball up the park from a free kick and Adam Jere embarked on a darting run on the wing, but could find no way through a stubborn Bandon defence as Robin Sweeney was putting in some big hits on his own 22.

The West Cork side were back on the scoresheet in the 25th minute when Casey intercepted a Sunday’s Well pass in the middle of the park and he sprinted from the halfway line to crash over in the corner. Barr added the two points from a difficult angle.

Sunday’s Well laid siege to the West Cork side’s line but handling errors in scoring positions were to be their undoing.

Bandon worked the ball up the park from set-pieces approaching the break as Charlie O’Sullivan was prominent around the fringes and Darragh Collins-O’Brien presented the Musgrave Park side with problems in the loose. Barr dived over in the corner for the West Cork side’s fourth try, which he also converted on the stroke of half-time, following a ruck in the middle of the park. This left the scoreline reading 26-0 in Bandon’s favour at the break.

With the elements in their favour for the second half, Sunday’s Well upped the ante as they had the West Cork side camped deep inside their own 22. They opened their account in the 42nd minute when Ewan Kennedy barged over following a five-metre lineout and Ciaran Maguire converted.

The Musgrave Park side continued to have Bandon pinned back as Jacob Lane and Eoghan Mackay launched a series of drives for the line following a penalty, which they opted to run inside the West Cork side’s 22. Maguire scored Sunday’s Well’s second try in the corner, following a maul and he converted from an awkward angle to leave 12 points between the sides.

Sunday’s Well continued to hold the upper hand territorially in a scoreless final quarter as Mikey O’Connell and Mackay were dominating the lineouts. Jacob Lane launched a series of drives for the line, but Mark O’Shea turned over possession for the West Cork side.

The West Cork side had their moments in this period as they were awarded a penalty outside their own 22 from which they opted for the line. O’Shea won the resulting lineout on the Sunday’s Well ten-metre line, but bad handling was to prove costly.

With time almost up, Ferdia Gibbons was winning turnovers for Bandon in the forward exchanges and solid defensive work by Tom Desmond prevented Sunday’s Well from producing further scores.

Scorers for Sunday’s Well: Ciaran Maguire try, 2 cons; Ewan Kennedy try.

Bandon: Dylan Barr try, 3 cons; Hugh O’Mahony, Conor Ustianowski, Adam Casey tries.

Sunday’s Well: David Buckley; Adam Jere, Conor Mackey, Daniel Roche, Conor Davis; Ciaran Maguire, Jamal Shahid; Rohan Ranga, Ewan Kennedy, Jack Morrissy; Alexander Ryan, Finn Larsson; Mikey O’Connell, Eoghan Mackay, Eoin Carmody.

Replacements: Ian Kenny, Jamie O’Connell, Ciaran Harrington, Jacob Lane, Conor Hurley, Darragh Miller, Lee O’Keeffe, Cian Flynn.

Bandon: Adam Casey; Robin Sweeney, Tom Desmond, Conor Ustianowski, Tim O’Leary; Dylan Barr, Hugh O’Mahony; Ferdia Gibbons, Liam Egan, Olan O’Driscoll; Daniel Lane, Tom Donegan; Darragh Collins-O’Brien, Mark O’Shea, Charlie O’Sullivan.

Replacements: Oisin Corcoran, Rory O’Callaghan, John Neary, Jacob O’Driscoll, Ronan McSweeney.

Referee: Alex Aherne (MAR).