Ardscoil withstand gallant fight from Rockwell to emerge victorious
Ardscoil Rís had to withstand a gallant second half fight back by Rockwell to come out on top in the Clayton Hotels Munster Schools Junior thriller at Thomond Park by 24 points to 21.
The Limerick side dominated the opening half hour and seemed to be in total control when turning over with a 24-7 advantage.
Up to that point, the class of centre Harry Long and the influence up front of Adam Shawyer, Tom Collins and Scott Gleeson had helped to put them in control against a Rockwell side that made a nervous start to the defence of the title they captured so impressively for the 20th time twelve months ago.
Tries by Long, Andrew Lyons, Gleeson and wing Alan Fitzgerald, two converted by Long, left them 24-7 ahead of Rockwell whose try came from their impressive number eight and captain Jack Ryan with the conversion by Cian O’Reilly.
It was a different game the longer the second half went with Ryan rallying his troops so effectively that tries by hooker Joseph Lawrence and Jock Fogarty, both expertly converted by O’ Reilly, left them just three points behind with seven minutes to play.
To their credit, however, the Limerick side regained the initiative in the closing stages and held out for a notable success.
Third try for @ArdscoilRisLimk leaves the score 19:7 to @ArdscoilRisLimk vs @rockwellcollege with 26 minutes played #rugby pic.twitter.com/Bs9K3Dqjni
— Ardscoil Rís Limk (@ArdscoilRisLimk) February 5, 2020
A Lyons; H Cowton, S Brown, H Long, A Fitzgerald; B O’Keeffe, E Crowe; J O’Mara, K McNamara, E Calvey, D Custy, A Shawyer, J O’Mahony, S Gleeson, T Collins capt.
J Higgins, A McMahon, L Murphy, J Costello, A Kennedy, A Rush.
Z Lynch; M Carey, O O’Dwyer, C Neville, S Leahy; C O’Reilly, L Fitzgerald; B Everard, J Lawrence, M Long, C Bowen, C Brennan, D Crowley, J Fogarty, J Ryan capt.
O Ediale, I McCarthy, T O’Dea.
M Scanlon (MAR).
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