Rugby Munster Junior Cup: Ard Scoil Ris - 9 St Nessans CS - 7 A penalty goal from full back Declan O'Rahilly 10 minutes from time helped holders Árd Scoil Rís secure a hard-fought quarter-final victory over St Nessan's at a bitterly cold Fitzgerald Park yesterday.

Favourites Árd Scoil Rís were made to fight all the way against a tenacious St Nessan's side which threatened an upset after leading 7-6 at half-time.

O'Rahilly opened the scoring with a penalty goal for the holders after just two minutes.

However, St Nessan's hit back strongly with a superb try from centre Eoin Lynch which was converted by their outhalf, Declan Cusack.

O'Rahilly's second penalty of the game after 20 minutes left St Nessan's enjoying a one-point interval lead.

With wind assistance to come in the second half, St Nessan's looked to be in a strong position to cause a surprise.

But the holders regained the lead with a third penalty goal from O'Rahilly.

Árd Scoil Rís had to withstand strong pressure from St Nessan's in the closing stages to set up a semi-final meeting with PBC, Cork.

ÁRD SCOIL RÍS: D O'Rahilly; P Gleeson, S Donohue, C Finnegan, S Lipper; D Lynch, M Rowley; D Kilcoyne, J Byrne, J Burton, G Leyden, V Manning, B Sheehan, J Keogh, D Toomey (capt). Replacements: D Doherty for J Byrne; J Noonan for V Manning.

ST NESSAN'S CC: B Ryan; E O'Connor, M Sweed, E Lynch (capt), B Shannon; D Cusack, S Wyse; D Kerley, J Heelan, G Daly, S McSweeney, N Heffernan, R Meyer, D O'Leary, D Wharton. Replacements: D Fitzgerald for J Heelan; D Brown for G Daly.

Referee: L Colgan (Munster).