Classy Crescent cruise to Pinergy Munster Schools Senior Cup title
Crescent College Comprehensive players celebrate their side's third try during the Munster Rugby Schools Senior Cup Final against Presentation Brothers College, Cork, at Thomond ParkÂ
Crescent College Comprehensive landed their first Pinergy Munster Schools Senior Cup in eight years as they romped to victory over PBC at Thomond Park on Tuesday.
It was a dominant performance throughout from the Limerick school as they outscored their Cork opponents by four tries to one on a chilly afternoon in their home city as they claimed their 12th senior schools provincial title to lift the Garrett Fitzgerald Cup.
First-half tries from wing Brandon Nash and full-back Jed O’Dwyer, both converted by fly-half Oscar Davey gave Crescent a commanding interval lead and another score early in the second half from the outstanding Davey put the game beyond Pres. Though PBC did finally get on the scoreboard shortly afterwards through Danny Sheahan, an opportunist try from Max Clein completed a comprehensive display.
Crescent had started with conviction with hooker and captain Conall Henchy leading the charge as Pres struggled to find any rhythm, though, for all PBC’s jitters it was the Cork team who made the first clearcut scoring opportunity. Fly-half Harry Coughlan broke from midfield and reached the five-metre line before he was reeled in by full-back O’Dwyer on five minutes. Pres recycled but were thwarted by solid defence from Crescent and in their haste to vary the point of attack knocked on to end their offensive.
It was the last time in the opening period they would come close. Crescent enjoyed all the territory from therein and PBC just could not clear their lines. When a mix-up at the back brought a collision between full-back Ben O’Connor and wing Sean Condon, the pressure told and with a foothold in the 22, Crescent struck for the first time, fly-half Oscar Davey demanding the ball from the back of the ruck and channelling it down the short side through Henchy and onto right wing Nash for the opening try.
Davey nailed the conversion and Pres compounded their woes by conceding a penalty from the restart, which eventually led to another kickable penalty upfield, though the fly-half’s effort was just wide of the mark.
No matter. A moment of brilliance from full-back O’Dwyer saw him maze his way through three tacklers to score from the PBC 10-metre line and Davey’s conversion made it 14-0 on 25 minutes.
That is the way it stayed through half-time, the PBC players noticeably sent back onto the field several minutes ahead of their opponents. Though the half-time team-talk from head coach Ger Burke was seemingly succinct, Crescent continued their dominance and having worked the ball upfield, a wayward lineout on their own five-metre line saw PBC lose possession in their own corner. Crescent recycled and sent the ball back to the touchline where Davey was waiting to catch his scrum-half’s pass and dot down. That made it 19-0 and though Davey’s touchline conversion died in front of the posts, it still left the Cork side with a mountain to climb.
They had reached the peak in their semi-final, rebounding from a 19-7 deficit in the final quarter to beat cross-city rivals CBC 21-19 at Musgrave Park and when hooker Danny Sheahan grounded the ball from short-range five minutes later, there will have been ambitions for another great escape.
Those hopes short-lived, however, when a Coughlan clearance kick from inside the PBC 22 was charged down by Crescent flanker Clein, who then ran in to score his side’s fourth try of the afternoon. Davey’s conversion stretched the lead to 26-5 as Crescent comfortably saw out the remaining minutes to claim a famous win.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
