O'Mahony kick gives boys win

A MASSIVE kick by Brian O'Mahony gave Ireland under 18 schools a dramatic 12-9 victory over England in Hull last night.

The Cork schoolboy fired over a penalty from just inside the English half with only eight minutes left to clinch the win in a topsy turvy game.

It was a match Ireland should have sewn up sooner. They played with fire and passion in the first 10 minutes, while England struggled to reach the pace of the game.

Ireland went ahead after only four minutes with O'Mahony's first penalty, awarded after England were caught barging in a line out.

Ireland winger Cormac Dowling shone in the early stages, with one mazy run in particular standing out. He was also involved in a move after 10 minutes which should have seen him score a try. After getting, on the end of a five man back move, he was cut down yards from the line by an England cover tackle.

After IS minutes, though, O'Mahony punished England further for going over the top in a maul by kicking the Irish six points ahead.

England began to find their feet, but were knocked back by a series of whole hearted tackles, including a bone cruncher from hooker Peter Smyth.

But the home side finally opened their account after 24 minutes, when James Brown kicked a penalty after Ireland killed the ball in annual.

Within two minutes of the restart, England were level when Brown produced a penalty kick from 40 yards.

The home side were coming into the game more and winger Chris Armitage was starting to cause problems with his pacey runs. Armitage was the instigator of a flowing move which eventually saw England take the lead.

Despite a brilliant cover tackle by Irish winger Jonathan Davis, England were awarded a penalty as the visitors killed the ball Brown made no mistake from close in.

Ireland rallied well and a storming charge down the middle of the pitch by lock Peter Bracken gave O'Mahony the chance to kick a simple penalty as England killed the ball.

With their tails now up, Ireland quickly made their way back to the England try line and forced a series of scrums. But three dropped passes in a minute stopped the Irish gaining the points their pressure deserved.

Just when it looked as though the visitors were losing their momentum, O'Mahony won the game by producing a stunning kick from just inside the England half.