St Munchin's 20 Rockwell 3:Classy St Munchin's pulled off a major surprise by knocking holders Rockwell College out of the Munster Schools' Senior Cup with a deserved semi-final victory at Thomond Park yesterday. It reversed the result of last season's final
St Munchin's began brightly and took the lead on five minutes with an excellent try from scrumhalf Geoffrey McNamara after a fine break by centre Brian Cahill. Wayne Murphy landed the conversion.
The lead was extended after 17 minutes when second row Donncha Ryan got in for a try from a terrific driving maul.
A 12-0 advantage was considerable, even though Rockwell had wind advantage to come in the second half. The defending champions were given a glimmer of hope within 10 minutes of the restart when fullback Morgan Lyons kicked a penalty.
Rockwell were now enjoying a greater share of possession, but sturdy covering kept them at bay and St Munchin's made the issue safe with seven minutes left. Outhalf Brendan Deady made an incisive break and the excellent Mikey Carroll capped an admirable individual display with a decisive try. A Murphy penalty on the stroke of full-time set the seal on a notable victory.
ST MUNCHIN'S: W Murphy; B Kennedy, D O'Mahony, B Cahill, J Cott; B Deady, G McNamara; D Horan, D Varley, G Collins, A Gallagher, D Ryan, N Dodd, J Shine, M Carroll. Replacement: A Guiry for Collins (50 mins).
ROCKWELL: M Lyons; P Fox, C McNaughton, C O'Gorman, M Golden; Lyons, G Hurley; J Mackessy, D Fogarty, R Brosnan, M Melbourne, R Crosse, F Quinlan, N Melbourne, E Leamy.
Referee: P Roche (Munster).
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