St Munchin's head coach says team 'where we belong' after booking final berth
RELIEF: St. Munchins celebrate booking a first final appearance in 14 years. Pic: Tom O’Hanlon/Inpho
The key numbers from a thrilling Munster Schools Senior Cup semi-final could be summarised as follows: 11 tries, 77 points in 70 minutes of jam-packed action, and a first final appearance in 14 years for St Munchin’s.
It was end-to-end breathless rugby between Bandon Grammar School and the remaining Limerick representatives from the off, with five lead changes inside 28 minutes.
Full-back Ryan Angley scored two Munchin’s tries and created the third in that spell before limping off to get ice applied to a knee injury.
But even robbed of their creative force, the Corbally school were never headed in the second half. Brendan Minogue scored two tries, in the 61st and 69th minutes, and saved just as many at the other end by holding Bandon Grammar players up over the line.
They will return to Virgin Media Park to meet PBC or CBC in the final in three weeks’ time, Thursday's semi-final between the two Cork rivals also being streamed live by the Irish Examiner.
“It means everything. We feel it's where we belong. It's just been a long time coming,” said head coach Andrew O’Byrne.
“Ger Slattery’s team were the last to win it (in 2006), so it's nice to be back in a final. Hopefully, we can raise our game and be competitive on the day.” Angley’s knee issue, sustained in scoring his second try, will be a concern heading into that final.
“We're not 100% sure at the moment, but we're hoping it'll be a time thing,” said O’Byrne. “It's a bang on the knee. It'll possibly be a ligament strain, but hopefully there's nothing more severe than that. We'll assess it, and we'll go from there.
“Ryan's an excellent player. He played his part and scored two great tries.
“Darragh Mullane came on for him. He was on last year's Junior Cup team, and he did an excellent job. It's great to have that luxury.” While lauding a “rounded team performance”, O’Byrne also praised their other double try-scorer, outside centre Minogue.
“There's massive pedigree in that family. Dan (Foley) is Anthony's son, and Brendan is his nephew. Brendan is the younger brother of Oisín, who is doing very well for himself with Munster and Shannon.
“He really proved today that he's a top-class player.” The 4G surface suited Munchin’s high-energy attacking style, their physicality stood to them down the stretch, and Oisín Madden tacked on 13 points out of 15 from the kicking tee.
On the other side, it was a gutting fourth semi-final defeat of the past decade for Bandon Grammar, who had two tries from Éanna Burke.
They lost inside centre Sam Barry moments before Munchin’s fourth-minute opening try, which was started and finished by the fleet-footed Angley. Madden added the conversion, yet Bandon Grammar were ahead by the 13th minute.
Their powerful maul provided the ammunition. Armed with a penalty advantage, Lewis Linehan kicked crossfield for Jamie Hicks to score. Conor Smyth slotted the levelling conversion and soon added the lead penalty.
Angley’s line break provided the spark for Munchin’s to regain the lead. Conor Dillon came up just short of the line before eye-catching captain Jack Meaney dived over. Madden converted for 14-10.
Bandon Grammar twice came close in the following minutes, including Jack Deasy being held up by Minogue, before mauling over for Adam Barry’s third try in two games. The unerring Smyth converted.
In a seesawing first half, there was still time for a fifth lead change. Madden released Angley to break a tackle and find the corner. Madden’s touchline miss left their lead at 19-17, which just about survived a forward-marching Bandon Grammar maul to reach half-time.
Munchin’s withstood another scare on the resumption as Minogue and Mullane held up Aodhán Brennan’s bulldozing surge. Foley’s turnover penalty then allowed Madden to drill between the posts.
When Michael Landers charged over and Madden converted, Munchin’s had their biggest lead, 29-17.
It didn’t take 10 minutes for Bandon Grammar to get back level. Burke wasn’t the target of a ricocheted pass, but he took full advantage to score.
Then, Mark Whelton’s superb aerial take set the platform for Deasy to touch down before hobbling off. Billy Canniffe made the latter conversion for 29-all.
Munchin’s maul made their mark by gaining some hard yards before Minogue’s brilliant running line took him through a gap to score. Madden added the extras.
Michael Kennedy’s rapid line break got Bandon Grammar back into the game in a move finished by Burke. However, Canniffe’s conversion rebounded off the right post to leave them two points in arrears.
They were still in the fight until a minute from time. In a frantic passage, Bandon won a scrum against the head, but Dillon and Oisín Gleeson forced a turnover for Minogue to dash over. Madden’s kick put the result beyond doubt.
R Angley 2, J Meaney, M Landers, B Minogue 2.
O Madden 5.
O Madden.
J Hicks, A Barry, É Burke 2, J Deasy.
C Smyth 2, B Canniffe.
C Smyth.
R Angley (D Mullane 30); P O’Driscoll (A Fennell 58), B Minogue, M Delmont Ferrara, E Quinn (D Newman 70+1); O Madden, T O’Brien; B Meagher (C Dillon 50), M Landers (S McGlynn 70+1), C Dillon (O Gleeson h-t) (B Meagher 70+1); Callum McGrath, Cillian McGrath (S Bissette 42); R O’Brien, J Meaney (capt), D Foley (M Keane 63).
L Dukelow (D L’Estrange 44); M Kennedy, É Burke, S Barry (A Bramoullé 3) (J Hicks 64), J Hicks (F Lucey 52); C Smyth (B Canniffe 41), L Linehan; J Deasy (F McCarthy 59), A Barry, J van der Velde (S O’Callaghan 44); S Dooley (G McNulty 70+2), B Giles (R Collins 52); A Brennan (S Brady 52), M Whelton (capt), M Buttimer (M O’Regan 58).
P Roche (MAR).
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