Garryowen glory as Cork Con season ends in misery

Cork Con 15 Garryowen 16

But this slim victory heaped heartbreak on old rivals Cork Constitution who had little to show for a season of enterprising rugby.

However, finals are decided on the day and the league’s top seeds had to give way to a team that swept from fifth to fourth on the last day of the league campaign a fortnight ago before pushing all the way to the top.

It wasn’t a classic decider but it brought back memories of some great battles in the Munster Cup between these sides.

Respective Garryowen and Constitution coaches, Paul Cunningham and Brian Walsh, both admitted it brought them back a few years when the cup was king in Munster.

Cunningham said: “It was like a typical Munster Cup final of the past, a decider where two teams put their bodies on the line and adopted a do-or-die attitude from the start. It wasn’t always pretty, but it cranked up as the game progressed. Penalties were missed, penalties were scored; there was a decent crowd, an honest crowd who wanted good honest football and got it from two committed teams.

“I am delighted to have won this, because it came down to the wire, but it would be wrong not to feel for Con. They led going into the last few minutes. This happened to us before, so I know where they are coming from in their disappointment.”

Of course, he was proud of his troops and although loath to single out individuals, he did say captain Paul Neville had been a huge influence throughout the season.

“In addition, I thought the performances of both Mark Melbourne and Peter Malone were top class, but there were some others as well that will remain in the memory.

“Like for the try, there were a number of special moments. Once we got possession everyone did their job; even the “fatties” did their work. Eoghan Hickie did the business with the conversion and late on, when Con made a hugely threatening break, Conor Kilroy brought off a great tackle to save the day for us.”

For Constitution’s Walsh, it was a devastating experience. “I thought we played the better rugby, but we did make a number of mistakes, particularly in the first-half when we didn’t look after the ball well enough. We conceded that last try too easily and we didn’t take full advantage of our kicking opportunities. At the end, it came down to one missed kick and that was particularly cruel I thought.

“We had a great chance to win it at the end with a couple of drop goal attempts and I felt we were extremely unlucky not to get a penalty. A guy came in from the wrong side but the referee just told him get back onside. In that sense, it was disappointing one team had to lose after such an intensive game of rugby with no malice in it.

“I’m not saying we would have kicked the points if we had been given the penalty, but to be denied the opportunity was, to my mind, a very poor decision by the referee.”

If he had another gripe, it was that out of more than 20 competitive games this season, his side lost just three. “I just don’t think that we got what we deserved for being so consistent,” said a disappointed Walsh.

He will be even more disappointed at having lost the game after scoring two tries to Garryowen’s one.

He noted: “I thought our tries were well constructed and they showed that we could be patient in the build-up because Garryowen were so aggressive in defence.”

He wasn’t off the mark on that one for, after falling six points behind to two penalties from match-winning hero Eoghan Hickey, Richard Lane kicked a penalty and then converted a try from Tom Gleeson, the product of great work from Tom Ryan, Peter McKee and Darragh Lyons.

Garryowen powered back to score a 52nd minute penalty and Kilroy was unlucky to have been denied a try when penalised for a double movement in a 55th minute attack.

Instead, one of the really potent forces in this Constitution side, Denis Hurley, got in for an absolutely brilliant 71st minute try after Ed Leamy had made the hard yards.

Unfortunately, Lane snatched at the conversion attempt and missed, leaving Constitution vulnerable to a seven points response from the light blues. Within 90 seconds they were back in the game with a try from Damien Varley and in front courtesy of Hickey.

It was enough to push them onwards to further glory in a fantastic season. Cunningham, in victory, had the last word and it might be a source of encouragement to vanquished Constitution. “I think that was a prime example of what both clubs have been trying to do over the last couple of seasons; it’s all positive rugby and both of us should be proud of what we’re trying to achieve and that we’re determined to strive for excellence.

“There are a lot of good players in both clubs, all of them equally determined to make themselves and the clubs better. That can’t be half bad.”

Cunningham, his job well done, is now talking about retirement. There will be a lot of people in Dooradoyle trying to dissuade him.”

GARRYOWEN: C. Kilroy, A. O’Loughlin, K. Hartigan, C. Doyle, Ciaran. O’Boyle, E. Hickey, G. Hurley, R. Brosnan, D. Varley, J. Staunton, M. Melbourne, E. Mackey, P. Neville (captain), P. Malone, A. Kavanagh.

Replacements. Cillian O’Boyle (50), D. Sheehan for Mackey (63). Temporary, D. Sherry for Malone (32-37).

CORK CONSTITUTION: D. Hurley, R. Lane, D. Nethery, T. Gleeson, C. Healy, D. Lyons, P. McKee, Tom Ryan, D. Murray, Tim Ryan, M. O’Connor, S. O.Connor, R. Noonan, F. Cogan (captain), E. Leamy.

Replacements. J. Moloney for S. O’Connor (56), C. Murphy for Tim Ryan (75), R. Quinn for Murray (76). Temporary, C. Quaid for Lyons (18-26).

Referee: A. Lewis (IRFU)