Crescent bridge seven-year gap to shade PBC in epic clash
Crescent were hot favourites and showed why when they raced into a ten-point lead mid way through the first-half.
Their first try came after seven minutes when Crescent out half Gearoid Lyons cut through the Pres defence and full-back Jason O’Sullivan touched down in the corner.
Despite playing into a strong wind, the Cork side took the game to Crescent and were camped in their ‘22’ but could not convert their advantage into scores.
Crescent made it 10-0 on 23 minutes when Cormac Blake touched down after Crescent again opened up the Pres defence.
Pres totally dominated the second-half but opted for tries instead of kicking penalties and had to wait for ten minutes from time before eventually breaching a solid Crescent defence when prop Stephen McCarthy touched down. Conor Flanagan added the extras to leave three points between the sides.
Pres made another effort with full-back Paddy Hegarty sending winger Jerry Roche racing up the touchline but the Crescent cover was on hand to bundle him into touch just short of the line.
In one final effort Pres did manage to get over the line but the ball was knocked on and with it came the final whistle much to the joy of the Limerick side.
PBC: P Hegarty, S Walia, E Perry, D St Ledger, J Roche, C Flanagan, L Merriman; B Traynor, B Murphy, S McCarthy, C Casey, C Dineen, M Carey, D Lane, M Murphy.
Replacements: C Stanton, P Lee, K O’Driscoll, J O’Brien, C Murphy, R Reardon, H O’Keeffe, C Collins.
CRESCENT COMP: J O’Sullivan, G O’Shea, W Leonard, JJ O’Neill, J Hogan, G Lyons, E Barry; J Keane, C Roe, L McMahon, C Guerin, R Scott, J Kavanagh, J Green, C Blake.
Replacements: M Rickard, C Spillane, J Beary, J Tuohy, M O’Connor, G Fitzgerald, T Moloney, E Parkes.
Referee: K Barry (MAR)
