Munster Junior Cup: Christians too strong for Clonakilty
CBC's Sean Riordan is tackled by Clonakilty Community college's Cillian Sturdy and James Tobin during the Munster junior schools cup game at Virgin Media Park. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
CBC advanced to the Munster Schools Junior Cup quarter-finals with a five-try victory over Clonakilty Community College.
Clon had come through the qualifying route, before stunning Ardscoil Rís in a 26-22 thriller at Thomond Park, but here bcoughed up two first-quarter tries to Max O’Riordan and Harry Quinlan, who finished with 13 points.
Christians, wearing their alternate all-black jerseys, added three more after the break through their powerful forwards, with Christian Murphy, Ruaidhrí McElwain, and stand-out performer Alex Maher scoring.
They will face a quarter-final against Castletroy College, after the mid-term break.
Clon brought ferocious line speed to pressurise Christians right from the first whistle. That tactic worked to good effect, even if it occasionally left gaps behind, which Quinlan almost exploited early.
They were carved open in the 10th minute, as Christians speculated with penalty advantage on their side. Shea Lynch’s crossfield kick was not secured and O’Riordan zipped in to score under the posts. Quinlan added the extras.
Clonakilty almost hit right back. Daniel Donovan scorched through a gap and Joe Twomey cut back inside, only to be chopped down by Cormac McCabe within sight of the tryline. A tap-and-go penalty ensued, but McElwain forced the breakdown turnover.
They suffered a severe setback in the 15th minute, when Quinlan intercepted a pass on halfway and dashed in untouched for Christians’ second try.
Clon did prevent them taking the maximum points as Ewan Knowles charged down Quinlan’s conversion. Knowles’ kicking, combined with Donovan’s and Twomey’s running lines, asked plenty of questions, but despite their territory, they couldn’t close the 12-0 deficit by half-time.
Clonakilty had trailed throughout their last-gasp victory over Ardscoil. Christians gave them no oxygen, though, with two blocked-down kicks on the resumption.
Clon were temporarily reduced to 14 players, when early replacement Rhoan Draper was sin-binned for a high tackle and Christians struck immediately.
Quinlan kicked to the corner, Ciarán Kelly grabbed the line-out, and though their maul was stopped, they maximised their penalty advantage with a smart move from prop Murphy to dodge over.
Quinlan made the tricky conversion and soon had Clon, who had been restored to a full complement, penned back again with a precise touch-finder.
Seán Riordan made a break down the left and once the ball was recycled, good hands from Kelly and Quinlan whipped the ball into McElwain’s path to hold off two defenders and reach for the line. Quinlan’s conversion made it 26-0.
They made it five tries in the 62nd minute. James Earle gave some impetus off the bench as it took four tacklers to end his turn of pace. The tireless Maher kept momentum with two hard carries and his third punched through from Quinlan’s pass to go under the posts. It left the out-half a straightforward task to make it four conversions from five.
Tries: M O’Riordan, H Quinlan, Christian Murphy, R McElwain, A Maher; Cons: Quinlan 4.
H Downey (J Twomey 58); M O’Riordan, R Kinirons, S Lynch (J Earle 52), S Riordan (M Laffan 58); H Quinlan, T Murphy (M Murphy 52); Christian Murphy (C Coyne 56), J Punch (D Caren 52), D Field (L Daly 58); H Loftus (C Kelly 2), A Maher; L Carroll (c), C McCabe (M Keane 52), R McElwain (Christophe Murphy 55).
J Twomey; J Coleman, D Donovan, E Knowles (M Draper 60), O White; L Rohan, C Sturdy; Y Al Rubeei, Z Llewellyn (c, R Draper 31), C Kearns; D Murphy (N O’Donovan 48), T O’Brien; T O’Driscoll (C McCarthy 40), E Murphy, J Tobin.
L Fleming, R O’Donnell, A Murphy, L Griffin, T O’Keeffe, J Khan.
J Kingston (MAR).
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