PBC seal victory with second-half blitz

Munster Schools: PBC Cork 25 Glenstal Abbey 3

Presentation Brothers College, Cork produced a powerful second-half performance to ease through to the semi-finals of the Seat Munster Schools Junior Cup at the Mardyke yesterday.

Glenstal went toe-to-toe with Pres in an opening half that finished at three points apiece but when the Cork school added a try and penalty early in the second spell there was only ever going to be one outcome.

Yet, while that second 30 yielded three tries for the winners, head coach Brian McMahon will be calling for an improvement when his side meets local rivals Christian Brothers College at Musgrave Park on Tuesday, March 10.

The draw for the semi-finals also pitched Castletroy and Crescent together, that game to take place in Thomond Park the following day.

PBC captain and tight-head prop Billy Scannell had to retire in the middle of the second half with a suspected broken collarbone. “We’ll have to wait and see to find out the extent of his injury and we won’t know the exact nature of it until he undergoes a scan,” said McMahon.

After Glenstal’s Leon Broderick and Pres out-half James Broderick exchanged first-half penalties, Ross Howell grabbed the first of the tries for Pres two minutes into the second half, after good work from Sean French and the hard-working flanker Cian Fitzgerald.

Broderick tacked on a penalty two minutes later and then added the conversion to a try he helped create for the impressive French. Although well in control, Pres had to wait until injury time for the third which came from substitute Darragh O’Callaghan after scrum-half David Harrington’s assist. Broderick nailed the very difficult conversion.

PBC: S French, R Howell, J Wren, S O’Donovan. N McCarthy, J Broderick, D Harrington, M Varnam, L Ryan, B Scannell (captain), M McCarthy, L Tarbatt, D Hyland, C Browne, C Fitzgerald.

Replacements: D O’Callaghan for Tarbatt (32), K Nugent for Ryan (35), Ryan for Scannell (47), B Quigley for Ryan (52), L Bruce for McCarthy (55).

GLENSTAL: M O’Farrell, R Quinn, B Moloney, J O’Mahoney, A Hogan, L Broderick, A Egan, P Prendergast, G Downing (captain), E Bergin, J Fitzgerald, D O’Donovan, E Callaghan, M Fleming, C Booth.

Replacements: J Fehily for O’Farrell (40), A Walsh for Moloney (42), D Kelly for Bergin, R Leahy for Fitzgerald, W McAleese for O’Donovan (all 53), M Walsh for Fleming, P Mulligan for Egan, H Boland for Prendergast (all 56).

Referee: R O’Sullivan (M.A.R)