Walsh try enough to earn Christians Cup glory

CHRISTIAN Brothers College denied Ard Scoil Rís a second Coca Cola Munster Schools Junior Cup in succession at Musgrave Park yesterday.

CBC 8 Ard Scoil Rís 3

Ard Scoil Rís had the better of the first-half, even though playing into the teeth of a strong wind, and amazingly, Christians ruled the second-half.

The difference was that Christians made their territorial advantage pay with second-row Shane Walsh the hero of the hour when he ploughed over for a try five minutes from the end.

In the first-half, the Limerick side dominated but apart from one magnificent run from winger Paul Gleeson they didn’t look like making the crucial break for a try. Their best spell came after Declan O’Rahilly kicked a third minute penalty. Gleeson was felled by a fine tackle from Darren Loftus a couple of minutes later and CBC winger Graham O’Sullivan had to be sharp to cover when Gleeson chipped through and over the line.

Christians did respond with a penalty from Cormac Horgan in the 12th minute but they never looked capable of capitalising on the constant probing from classy scrum-half Chris Nolan.

The Ard Scoil defence was magnificent but the constant barrage by an increasingly confident Christians pack had to pay dividends. The rampage began ten minutes into the second half when a driving maul was stopped short and a timely tackle forced Jack Bransfield to knock on inches from the line.

Ryan O’Connor knocked on with another try at his mercy, basically because of a hugely effective tackle from Jamie Keogh. The assaults continued and when Ard Scoil had a kick charged down, the loose ball evaded three Christian’s players, any one of whom could have scored.

Ard Scoil’s luck appeared to be in after that and other close calls but, finally, the Cork school, awarded a penalty that could well have been kicked for a 6-3 lead, chose to run at the opposition yet again. The pack, led by captain Shane McCarthy and Brian O’Callaghan, drove low and hard and Walsh suddenly emerged from the side of the maul to dive in unopposed.

Horgan failed to convert but the Limerick side were unable to mount any reasonably decent offensive in the last few minutes of a game marked by the tremendous defensive efforts of both sides.

CBC: H. Hofman, G. O’Sullivan, P. Parfrey, D. Loftus, S. McCarthy, C. Horgan, C. Nolan, J. Ryan, A. Cudmore, J. Bransfield, S. Walsh, R. O’Connor, C. Moore, B. O'Callaghan, S. McCarthy (captain). Replacement. F. Bohane for Moore (41).

ARD SCOIL RÍS: D. O’Rahily, P. Gleeson, S. Donohue, C. Finegan, S. Lipper, D. Lynch, M. Rowley, D. Kilcoyne, J. Byrne, J. Burton, G. Leyden, J. Noonan, B. Sheehan, D. Toomey (captain), J. Keogh. Replacements. V. Manning for Byrne, D. Doherty for Noonan (both 55).

Referee: J. Sheehan (Munster Association).