Schools Cup: PBC claim group top spot after show-stopping second half against Munchins
Mark Hetherington of PBC makes a fast break against St Munchins.
Presentation Brothers College made it four bonus-point wins out of four to secure top spot in Group A in the Munster Senior Schools Cup as they came from behind to defeat St Munchins in Wilton on Wednesday afternoon.
The Champions, inspired by their outstanding captain Gene O’Leary Kareem, who claimed a try and five superbly kicked conversions, ensured they got the result that they needed to avoid a semi-final qualifier against their arch-rivals and their opponents in last season’s final, Christian Brothers College.
Instead, it is Munchins who will face the talented CBC side in the semi-final qualifiers, where the loser will still have a chance of landing the title via the backdoor, as their loss to PBC ensured they finished second in the standings.
But with just 18 minutes on the clock in Wilton it looked like it would be the Munchins finishing in top spot as they raced into a 14-0 lead against a shellshocked Pres.
Danny Williamson opened the scoring in the 13th minute when he applied the finish touch at the end of a sustained period of pressure shortly before Tom Wood split the uprights with a superb kick from the sideline.
Then just a few minutes later the visitors doubled their lead when Wood added another conversion after an excellently worked try.
Wood started the move initially with a clever kick over top but from there it was all about the brilliance of Matthew Te Pou, who rose highest to claim the ball before his quick hand-off gave Alex Quinn the opportunity to race clear and dive underneath the crossbar.
PBC, to their credit, refused to let the heads drop and the reduced the deficit before half-time when Harry Murphy went down in the corner following James O’Leary’s pass and O’Leary Kareem expertly added the extras, 14-7 at the break.
But the second half was all about the Cork school, especially once they levelled the scores when O’Leary Kareem burst through the last line of defence before duly sending over the conversion.
Tempers flared during the celebrations of that try and both teams saw a player sent to the sin bin with James O’Leary shown a yellow card for Pres, likewise Te Pou for Munchins.
It seemed to affect the away team more as Harry Murphy grabbed his second try of the afternoon before Gene O’Leary Kareem added a dream of a conversion to complete the turnaround, 19-14.
But even when both schools were restored to their full compliment it still seemed like there would only be one winner.
And that would be the cup holders, who scored two further tries through the returning James O’Leary and substitute Luke Sisk O’Mahony – both converted by O’Leary-Kareem – to secure their fourth successive bonus point triumph and with-it top spot in the group.
Tries: H Murphy (2), G Kareem O’Leary, J O’Leary, L Sisk O’Mahony; Cons: G Kareem O’Leary (5).
Tries: D Williamson, A Quinn; Cons: T Wood (2).
D Fitzgerald, N O’Leary, G Kareem O’Leary, J O’Leary, M Hetherington, H Murphy, F Og Sheahan; M Minogue, P Doyle, W Cronin, G O’Keeffe, D Foley, O Squires, C Bohan, D Murphy.
M Fitzgerald, D Sheehy, F O’Sullivan, R McLoughlin Barry, S MacFarlane O’Shea, L Tuohy, H Murphy, L Sisk O’Mahony, J Wigginton Barrett, E Coughlan.
M Te Pou, A Quinn, A Cusack, B O’Mahony, A McGlynn, T Wood, C Glynn; C Kirwan, P Dougan, O Vitolins, A Foley, C Black, D Williamson, T O’Driscoll, O Minogue.
A O’Shaughnessy, E O’Callaghan, B Power, C Grace. B Minogue, R McDermott, D Geoghegan, A Mohamad, C Kiely.
John Moynihan (MAR).
