St Munchin’s through to Senior Schools Cup quarter-final after hard-fought win

The crucial score came from Ryan Naughton while Cillian O’Connor added five points from the boot

Castletroy College 0 St Munchin’s 10

St Munchin’s College qualified for the quarter-final of the Munster Senior Schools Cup, after edging a tussle with Limerick rivals Castletroy College.

This quarter-final eliminator, played at the back-pitch in Thomond Park, saw Castletroy come into the game with a win under their belt, a comfortable victory over Colaiste Pobail Bheanntraí earlier this month.

The crucial score came from Ryan Naughton while Cillian O’Connor added five points from the boot. Coached by Ger Slattery, St Munchin’s perhaps didn’t hit their peak in attack but were extremely strong defensively in holding Castletroy to nil.

Winners of this competition six times, but last in 2006, Munchin’s had big performances from Tadhg O’Brien and Gordon Wood. Castletroy were never allowed to get to their top level and handling errors throughout the pitch undid much of their good work.

The winners were on the front foot from the first whistle and took the lead when they were awarded their sixth penalty just after the 25-minute mark. O’Connor slotted this and his side dominated the remainder of the half.

O’Connor’s half-back partner Jake O’Riordan was a real standout, the scrum-half often taking quick penalties which caught his opponents off-guard.

The Corbally school had the games only try when Naughton raced clear when receiving a pass inside the 22, evading a handful of tackles dotting down. The half-time advantage was a deserved one.

Castletroy, who’d failed to show much in attack in the opening half, found their stride after the interval. But before this, Munchin’s prop Shane Hannan had to be carried off the pitch by medical personnel with an ankle injury, causing a 10-minute delay to proceedings.

The break seemed to aid Castletroy, who shaded an overall scrappy second period. They didn’t threaten the whitewash until late on, and even then fell just short of what would have only been a consolation score.

They were held up on the line, for the second time, at the death by a determined Munchin’s defence, who’ll fancy their chances of going deep into this competition.

St Munchin’s haven’t been in competitive action since before Christmas, so perhaps elements of their game needed fine-tuning ahead of a quarter-final against Presentation Brothers Cork, who lost narrowly, 17-14, to Crescent Comp on Wednesday. For Castletroy, the wait for a second Senior Schools Cup title goes on.

CASTLETROY COLLEGE: L Morgan; A Ryan, N Clancy, S Kiely, G Cole; L Heuston, J Donohue; A McMahon, J Myers, M Hoare, H Hogan, E O’Connell, L White, D Aylward, O Toland.

Replacements: S Lynch, A Clinton, M Amiedamen, L Walter, D McDonogh, P Franklin, E Lavey, R Collins, M Murphy, P O’Brien May, O Williams, S O’Grady.

ST MUNCHIN’S: O Pepper; R Naughton, J O’Brien, G Wood, R Deegan; C O’Connor, J O’Riordan; C O’Brien, S Hannan, M Imbierowski, T O’Brien, T Foley, M Walsh, Ó Minogue, L Angermann.

Replacements: P Dougan, M Corrigan, H Bennis, C Black, D Williamson, R McDermott, A Cusack, J Madden, M Te Pou, E Walsh, C McCarthy.

Referee: Adrian McInerney.