Árdscoil Rís edge past Limerick rivals Castletroy College in Munster Schools Senior Cup

RESOLUTE Árdscoil Rís produced a strong second half display to overhaul local rivals Castletroy College and secure a hard fought 11-10 victory in their Pinergy Munster Schools Senior Cup first round fixture played at Liam Fitzgerald Park on Thursday afternoon.

Ardscoil Rís' reward for this tense Limerick derby victory at the home of Thomond RFC is an away date against Bandon Grammar School at Musgrave Park on Wednesday, January 24 at 3.15pm.

Castletroy made the brighter opening and backed by a stiff breeze were camped inside their opponents half for the opening 20 minutes of the game.

The 2008 Senior Cup winners hit the front in the 12th minute when impressive prop Jamie Conway dotted down from close range after a bout of concerted pressure close to the Ardscoil tryline.

Full-back Liam Glynn also added the conversion to push out the lead to 7-0.

Castletroy, who included Joel Rowntree, son of Munster head coach Graham Rowntree, in the centre, increased their advantage to 10-0 when full-back Glynn slotted a penalty goal.

Given the level of pressure Castletroy exerted in that opening 20 minutes, the Newtown side will probably feel they should have been further ahead. However, stubborn defence close to their own tryline from Ardscoil Ris prevented them from falling further behind.

Castletroy did manage to increased their lead when Glynn landed his second penalty of the game for 10-0.

Soon after, an excellent break upfield by the exciting Thomas Hourigan helped Ardscoil gain a rare foothold inside the Castletroy half inside the opening half and when one of their players drifted offside, Aaron Byrnes opened the Ardscoil account with a well struck penalty for 10-3. 

Árdscoil upped their performance levels at the start of the second half and were rewarded for their endeavour five minutes after the restart.

The opening was created by full-back John Butler's crossfield kick and winger Thomas Hourigan pounced on the loose ball to score.

Although the conversion was missed, Ardscoil were right back in the contest at 10-8.

With a minute of normal time remaining, Ardscoil hit the front when the ice-cool Byrnes superbly kept his composure to land a crucial penalty goal after Castetroy College were pinged for holding on.

To their credit, resilient Castletroy did launch one more desperate assault upfield in a bid to wrestle back the lead. However, their period of pressure came to an abrupt halt when Ardscoil managed to win a turnover penalty to seal a precious one-point success.

SCORERS: Árdscoil Rís: Thomas Hourigan try, Aaron Byrnes two pens. Castletroy College: Jamie Conway try, Liam Glynn pen, con.

ARDSCOIL RÍS: John Butler; Thomas Hourigan, Joshua Dillon, Marcus O'Donoghue, Daniel O'Connell; Aaron Byrnes, Sean O'Halloran; Jibril Koura, Darragh Glennon, Kailin Rooney, Daniel O'Flaherty, Darragh Leyden, Matthew Browne, Sean Horrigan, Alex Kennedy. Replacements: David Salmon, Colin McCarthy, Patrick Ryan, Lloyd Costello, Fergus Bell, Callum Byrne, Ollie Desmond, Daniel Collins, Oisin Quinlivan, Charlie Quirke.

CASTLETROY COLLEGE: Liam Glynn; Sean McKeon, Darragh McMahon, Joel Rowntree; Rowan Brady; Robert McConkey (Capt), Chulainn Williams; Alister Tchokotieu, Jack O’Gorman, Jamie Conway, Adam Dooley, Ben Fogarty, Cillian McNamara, Cian Kennedy, Alex Lautsou. Replacements: Trevor Tchokotieu, Travis Tchokotieu, Usman Musa, Alberto Henry Ramblado, James O’Malley, Bryan Toland, Seán Lyons, Robbie Widger, Hayatallah Mohammad Ali, Pierce Walter.

REFEREE: Briain Bennett (MAR)