Fierce rivalry renewed as Pres and Christians meet in Cup

Charlie Mulqueen

That was back in 1996 and a lot of medals have been handed out since, without any making their way to the famed academy at the Mardyke.

They hope to rectify that situation at Musgrave Park this afternoon (3pm) when they again take on their rivals CBC in the latest all-Cork decider.

The roll of honour was led for many years by Pres and Rockwell, but they have been overtaken in more recent times by Christians, who captured the trophy for the 27th time when they beat today's opposition in the 2003

final. Pres have lost in each of the last three, so their burning desire for victory today is readily understood.

Of the two finalists, Christians have had it much tougher so far, beating Ard Scoil Ris by a try to nil in the quarter-final before pipping St Munchin's 19-13 thanks to a converted last-minute try.

Accordingly, they may be more battled-hardened. On the other hand, Pres won both friendlies between the sides early in the season. A try by burly CBC winger Gavin Blower was enough to see off Ard Scoil Ris in a tense affair but that paled in comparison to the way in which the clash with St Munchin's worked out.

The Limerick side had the stiff wind at their backs in the first-half but were contained to such an extent that they trailed by nine points at the interval, following tries for Christians by half-backs Chris Nolan and Alan Coughlan. The second-half, however, was an entirely different matter as Munchins suddenly realised their

potential and came back to lead by a point entering the dying moments.

However, the cream rose to the top as winger Kevin Doyle the son of former Kerry All-Ireland-winning captain Tommy struck for the

decisive try.

In contrast, tries by Michael O'Leary, Traolach Hennebry, Sean McKeown, Shane Costigan and Jason Carton saw Pres stroll to a 29-0 quarter-final win over St Nessan's.

They again had to travel to Limerick for the semi-final and looked to be in trouble when they fell behind to an early Crescent try.

However, they hit back with an equalising try following a rolling maul by Hennebry. Similar style second-half tries by scrum-half and captain Sam Cronin and Neil Burke saw Pres through by a comfortable 19-5.

Both sides are unchanged from those that began the semi-finals, with the consensus suggesting that Christians are the more rounded side but will struggle up front if the Pres pack performs as well as it did for the final 50 minutes or so against Crescent. The half-back duel promises much with Cronin a real live-wire at number nine for Pres and Gavin Dunne a composed number ten. They are up against Chris Nolan and Alan Coughlan, who have performed more than adequately for Christians so far.

Christians will look to skipper Don Keogh, Colin Liston (a nephew of the great Eoin "Bomber" Liston, another connection to the famed Kerry team of the 70s) and Kieran Essex to inspire those around them to quell the power of the Pres pack.

It's easier said than done, though, with Jack O'Driscoll, Traolach Hennebry and Richard McCarthy capable of exerting a grip on the proceedings.

Accordingly, it may well be just one score that will separate two apparently well-matched sides at the finish of what should be a tremendous contest.

CBC: P. O'Sullivan; G. Blower, I. Dinneen, F. Chesne, K. Doyle; A. Coughlan, C. Nolan; K. O'Donoghue, D. Nathan, R. O'Neill, K. Essex, R. Gee, S. O'Sullivan, C. Liston, D. Keogh (capt).

Replacements: J. Erangey, S. Archer, P. Murphy, T. Martin, S. Donovan, L. Melia, J. Noonan.

PBC: S. Deasy; S. Costigan, B. Dennehy, T. Kenneally, S. McKeown; G. Dunne, S. Cronin (capt); J. Carton, M. O'Leary, N. Burke, R. McCarthy, R. Allen, T. Hennebry, J. O'Driscoll, E. Nugent.

Replacements: M. Kearney, N. McCarthy, R. Martin, K. McGrath, K. Rothwell, J. Power, M. Keyes.

Referee: G. Clancy.