PBC beat Castletroy College to reach senior school's final where old rivals CBC await

PBC 24 

Castletroy College 10 

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 at Virgin Media Park on Wednesday..

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 for PBC: Tries: A Moloney, R MacFarlane O’Shea, L Hegarty, D Fitzgerald; Cons: Daniel Murphy 2. 

Castletroy College: Try: J Rennison; Con: L Glynn; Pen: L Glynn.

PBC: R Barrett; Daniel Murphy, A Moloney, J O’Leary (capt), E Dooley (B O’Callaghan 36); D Fitzgerald, R Byrd; M Fitzgerald (F O’Sullivan 43), D Higgins (L Hegarty 43), D Sheehy (B Foley 66); O Dillon (T Murray 66), S MacFarlane O’Shea (D Foley 36); Denis Murphy, C Bohan, R MacFarlane O’Shea.

CASTLETROY COLLEGE: R Widger; J Rennison, S Lyons (R Sheehan 46), J Rowntree, R O’Donnell; L Glynn, J O’Malley; J Conway, J O’Gorman (K Griffin 36), T Tchokotieu; B Fogarty, A Power; B O’Connell, R Brady, C McNamara (capt) (J O’Gorman 68-69).

Referee: P Sheehan (MAR).