Crescent remember 1983 schools cup success

Colm Kinsella talks to some of the major figures in Crescent’s 1983 senior cup success, a win that ended a 20-year famine for the school.

It was the victory which sparked a golden period for Crescent College Comprehensive in Munster Schools Senior Cup rugby - their 1983 success against traditional Cork heavyweights PBC at Musgrave Park.

Crescent hadn’t claimed the blue riband of schools rugby in the province for 20 years prior to that 10-0 victory, but the success inspired a generation of Dooradoyle students who went on to claim the Cup on four occasions over the following 11 years.

That 1983 Cup winning side was captained by Kelvin Leahy, who went on to win a full cap for Ireland against New Zealand in 1992 as well and it also included Len Dinneen, Jnr, who later captained Munster and claimed the inaugural AIL title with Cork Constitution.

Number eight Leahy and tighthead prop Dinneen retain vivid memories of their ground-breaking Cup success on Leeside 30 years ago.

Coach Dudley Herbert, who looked after team affairs along with Don Reddan and Rusty Cross, also recalls the 1983 success with tremendous fondness.

SETTING THE SCENE

KELVIN LEAHY: Myself and my three younger brothers were involved in all the Crescent teams which won Senior Cups since it become a Comprehensive in the early 1970s.

“I won a Cup in 1983. My brother Colin was a sub on the 1986 team and when Crescent won it in 1989 and 1990, my brother Shane was on both of those teams. The last won it in ’94 and my brother Ross was on that one.

“My father Michael won a cap for Ireland against Wales in 1964.

“Our team at Crescent got to the Junior Cup final in 1981 and were beaten by CBC, in Musgrave Park. Peter Clohessy was in the back-row that year, a wing forward. He was a good player then and became a legend after it.

LEN DINNEEN JNR: A lot of the team had played rugby together with Regional in the Community Games. We had a very close bond as players. That has remained to this day.

“Our season in 1983 had been very poor until Christmas, but we trained very hard over the holidays, Things clicked for us in the New Year.”

DETHRONING THE CHAMPS

DUDLEY HERBERT: “After we beat Bandon in the quarter-final, we faced Munchin’s in the semi-final It was a massive game for us. Luckily, they put Dan Larkin at out-half rather than full-back. If he had played at full-back, we wouldn’t have been able to get near him. Funny enough, Dan is coaching the Crescent first year’s this year! We got one break in the centre and got a try from it. The Munchin’s lads were upset because they thought there was a forward pass in the movement. But it was very tight. One line break in the game decided it. The rest was a war of attrition. But we came through and booked a final date with PBC.”

SHOWPIECE FINAL

LEN DINNEEN JNR: “I remember for the final we all drive down by car. There was no bus. With Kelvin’s Highfield contacts, we all went there on the morning of the game. We had soup and sandwiches. I remember it like it was yesterday.

DUDLEY HERBERT: “Kieran O’Sullivan, our full-back was sick on the day of the game. I remember getting a couple of Disprin for him. We decided to put him on and get the best out of him until he couldn’t play on any more. As I recall his parents brought him straight home because he had a terrible flu.”

JERSEYGATE!

LEN DINNEEN JNR: “I remember about five minutes before the match started, Kelvin Leahy pulled a PBC jersey from his bag. There was plenty of roaring and shouting and the jersey got ripped to shreds. We were really hyped up for it.”

KELVIN LEAHY:“The jersey incident was an example of the exuberance of youth. I went to school in Pres for one year, in second class, before we moved to Limerick, so I had a Pres jersey. You try to do something different. It didn’t need it. The lads themselves didn’t need to be motivated. The idea of having beaten Munchin’s, the holders and favourites, gave us a sense that we had a right chance. I think Pres themselves would have been surprised with the intensity and quality of how we played.”

AN EARLY MARKER

LEN DINNEEN JNR: “We kicked off playing into the Sunday’s Well end of the ground. We gave away a penalty in the first minute, but we had laid down a marker to Pres’ that we weren’t coming down just to make up the numbers. We showed our intent from the off.”

KELVIN LEAHY: “It was just to really belt into them for the first five minutes. We played Pres down in Cork before Christmas in a friendly and they beat us easily. It was just to change that mindset. It was very intense and the memory was fellas like Len Dinneen, Brian Campbell, the centres Niall O’Shea and Paul Fitzgerald, smashing guys. It was great to think back on it.”

DUDLEY HERBERT: “We had our research done and we reckoned there was always going to be a penalty awarded in the first minute. We made sure it wasn’t in our half – but in there. We took the kick-off and then wellied into it.

“We had Billy Meehan in the second row, who was rowing at the time. He trained six days a week at rowing and we used to organise our line-out work for the day he was off – to get him to play. It meant coming in on Sundays and things like that. It was professional enough. To get the best out of them, we had to switch our timetables and so that we accommodated everyone.”

WINNING OUT

KELVIN LEAHY: “We had a few guys injured and they came back before the Cup, the prop was one of them and Johnny Lyons who scored a try in the final and Paul Fitzgerald. The timing was great. It was well into the second half we got that try, Brian Campbell had kicked two penalties, but you never believe you’re going to win til the final whistle sounds and then it was an incredible feeling.”

“I was fortunate enough to win some Cups and Leagues play with Wanderers and to captain Leinster and play once for Ireland. Winning the Schools Cup was second only to getting a full Irish cap.”

LEN DINNEEN JNR: “There was a huge desire to win the Cup. The feeling at the full time whistle was unreal, a huge sense of achievement.

“About 30% of the lads when on to third level subsequently and there is no doubt but that Cup win helped get guys jobs.”