Battling Newtown claim cup final glory

NEWTOWN SCHOOL put two years of heartbreak behind them at windy Clonmel yesterday when they ended Midleton’s three-year reign as Mungret Cup champions with a deserved triumph in an absorbing decider.

Midleton had put Newtown to the sword in each of the last two seasons, but they were unable to continue that dominance, despite enjoying the better of an intense forward battle. The bigger Midleton pack won more possession but had nothing like the class displayed by Newtown behind the scrum.

Midleton coach Martin Preston admitted his side hadn’t been at their best: “We were always underdogs; we were struggling all season because we had to rely a lot on our pack. We were short a couple of key players in the backs and Newtown had a number of quality backs,” he said.