Crescent College Comprehensive strike late to see off Bandon in Munster Schools Boys Senior Cup

LIMERICK'S Crescent College Comprehensive Comp are back into a Pinergy Munster Schools Boys Senior Cup semi-final after securing a dramatic 33-29 victory over a strong Bandon Grammar School at Dooradoyle on Wednesday afternoon.

Lee Nicholas’ Crescent College charges had to withstand a stellar display from the Cork side and pick off a late score from hooker Alex McNamara to set up a semi-final clash with CBC, also of Cork, later this month.

Castletroy College will face PBC in the second of the Pinergy Munster Schools Boys Senior Cup

In a topsy turvy game, there was at no stage more than a score between these sides and as the game wore on, and the penalty count grew against them, it looked like Crescent College's hopes of making the last four were fading.

However, they showed great fighting spirit to get the final try in a relentless contest. Comp' had tries from Gerry Joyce, Charlie Fenton, Darragh McKeogh (2) and McNamara as well as four conversions from the left-foot of Alan Cleary during this nail-biting 70-minute clash.

Leading 19-12 at the break, it was Joyce who got the opening try before Bandon replied through Conor Mueller. Charlie Fenton showed good strength to power home the Limerick schools second try on 26 minutes, with Cleary adding the conversion.

Once more, Bandon had an answer with centre Calem Harte crashing over for their second five-pointer, with the extras making it 12-12.

However, the final score of the half came from the towering McKeogh who finished off a neat, close range move to give them Comp more belief heading for the half-time huddle. 19-12, but Bandon refused to bow.

Instead, the Regis Sonnes-coached outfit had the next dozen points. A try from Mueller came after quality work by Zach Piper and the hooker got his own try soon after as Bandon dominated the lineout.

However, McKeogh was again too much to handle for the Cork defence and he grabbed his second on 51 minutes. The two points from Cleary gave them a 26-24 advantage.

James Symington who really impressed from the Bandon bench, grabbed a go-ahead score 12 minutes from time, but with the clock into the final five minutes of action, the composed Limerick side found the winner.

Winning a close-range penalty, they tapped and drove, avoiding the problematic line-out. This reaped rewards with McNamara finishing off after a couple of phases.

Bandon couldn’t come up with another answer, and Crescent College Comprehensive head for the final four.

CRESCENT COLLEGE COMPREHENSIVE:  Fionn Rowsome; Ryan Scanlon, Evan Cusack, Harry O’Halloran, Gerry Joyce; Alan Cleary, Andrew Clery; Ronan Ryan, Alex McNamara, Cian Enright, Tom Shanahan, Jayden Carmody; Darragh McKeogh, Ademola Obasa, Charlie Fenton. Replacements: Michael O’Brien, Nathan O’Riordan, Nevilly Efe, Oran Copley, Eamon Collins, William Collins, William Byrne, Rory O’Connor, Gavin Tobin, Rory Mullins.

BANDON GRAMMAR SCHOOL: Senan Aherne; Illan Smith, Michael Kennedy, Calem Harte, Niall Miskella; Rory Golden, Stephen O’Donovan; Sean O’Callaghan, Zach Piper, Jonas Van Der Velde, Aodhan Brennan, Cash Healy; Conor Mueller, Matthew O’Regan, Paddy Coughlan. Replacements: Adam Barry, Jack Deasy, Jack Van Niekerk, James Symington, Robert Collins, Maximillian Tubb, Sam Barry, David Fuller, Nathan Van Der Westhuizen, Lewis Linehan.

REFEREE: Brían Bennett