Hickey the hero as Garryowen storm to 36th cup success

Garryowen 18 Cork Constitution 13

It was Hickey’s touchline conversion and 40-metre penalty into the wind and rain that saw the light blues to their 36th victory in the competition.

Garryowen coach Paul Cunningham admitted that it could have gone either way in the exciting closing stages. Con actually forced an attacking line-out as the game entered stoppage time and just five points separating the sides.

However, Garryowen snaffled the throw and gradually worked their way out of danger to clinch the win they deserved on the run of play.

It was a result that delighted Cunningham who was also at the helm last season when his side lost narrowly in the semi-final of both AIB League and Munster Senior Cup. And he went so far as to declare that he would prefer to win the Munster Cup rather than the league game between the two teams at Dooradoyle on Saturday next.

“Losing those two games last year the way we did was hard on these players who had won little or nothing before this,” he pointed out.

“Look at the age of the team we had out there today … front-row, two lads under 22; the two lads in the second-row were 21; in the back-row, Peter Malone was the eldest at 26. And the backs and subs are younger still. It means a lot to win things and to get something on the board and hopefully we can kick on from here.”

The first half was a strange affair. Conor Kilroy insisted that he scored an early try for Garryowen and the photographic evidence provided by the Irish Examiner’s Dan Linehan supports his claim.

On the other hand, many felt Mark Melbourne failed to ground the ball for the try that was awarded to Garryowen on the stroke of half-time. Once again, the camera didn’t lie!

Con restarted the proceedings with a second penalty by Dan Nethery. However, Garryowen quickly stretched their lead with a well taken try by Kevin Hartigan in the left corner that Eoghan Hickey crucially converted with a fine kick from near touch.

But the outcome was back in the melting pot shortly afterwards when Con produced their best movement of the game and this was rewarded with a fine try from Tom Gleeson which Nethery converted to again leave only two points between them.

It was at this stage that the rain came down in torrents and made things almost impossible for the players. But Garryowen were able to maintain the pressure, Hickey converted a vital penalty into the elements and they then escaped with their lives when successfully defending that late attacking Con line-out.

“I hadn’t won a trophy since my under-age days”, said Hickey, nowadays a member of the Munster squad having previously represented Leinster.

“I knew a lot about the Munster Cup before I came down and the passion of the crowd. The lads were well up for it. I played in the semi-final against Nenagh and I was thrilled to be part of this today. It was a hugely tough game and to win was massive because Shannon had won it for the past seven years and that’s not good reading for a Garryowen man.”

Not having won the old trophy since 1989, it was little wonder that Con should have been disappointed by this latest reverse. They certainly gave it their all and luck wasn’t always on their side, not least in the awarding of the first Garryowen try while the failure to capitalise on that gilt-edged late chance cost them dear.

“I felt 8-3 behind was a good turnaround for us going into the second half”, reasoned coach Brian Walsh. “We looked like we were going to play decent rugby, but we lost our way with 10 or 15 minutes to go with regard to controlling the ball. We probably got a bit anxious but all credit to Garryowen, they played well at that stage, they kept the ball and kept the pressure on.

“We had a chance up in their 22, but missed the line-out It was anybody’s game at that stage but they defended well, worked their way back up the pitch and we ended up back in our 22 with a couple of minutes to go and that’s not where we wanted to be.”

GARRYOWEN: C. Kilroy; A. O’Loughlin, K. Hartigan, C. Doyle, K. O’Riordan; E. Hickey, G. Hurley; R. Brosnan, D. Varley, E. McGovern, M. Melbourne, E. Mackey, P. Neville capt, A. Kavanagh, P. Malone.

Replacements: Ciaran O’Boyle for O’Loughlin 62 mins; J. Staunton for McGovern 65; D. Sheehan for Mackey 67; P. Humphreys for Varley 81.

CORK CONSTITUTION: D. Hurley; D. Nethery, D. O’Riordan, T. Gleeson, C. Healy; D. Lyons, P. McKee; Tom Ryan, D. Murray, C. Murphy, M. O’Connell, S. O’Connor, R. Noonan, B. Cuttriss, F. Cogan capt.

Replacements: Tim Ryan for Murphy half time; C. Quaid for O’Riordan 49; R. Quinn for Murray 63; J. Moloney for Noonan 75.

Referee: G. English (IRFU).