Young Munster had a deserved win over Blackrock College at Clifford Park on Saturday, but it might have been different had Alan McGowan not missed a couple of kickable penalties.
After McGowan landed an early penalty, Munsters went ahead with a try by hooker Bevan Cantrell which Mike Lynch converted. Two more penalties restored Blackrock's lead before Mike Mullins went over and Lynch converted to make it 14-9 to Munsters.
Blackrock were back in front (16-14) when McGowan converted a Nathan Turner try in the 39th minute. Diarmuid Reddan dropped a goal before McGowan restored Rock's lead. However, Jason Rose raced over to clinch Munsters' victory.
Scoring sequence: 2 mins: A McGowan penalty 0-3; 8: B Cantrell try, M Lynch conversion 7-3; 15: McGowan penalty 76; 21: McGowan penalty 7-9; 31: M Mullins try, Lynch conversion 14-9; 39: N Turner try, McGowan conversion 14-16; 50: D Reddan drop goal 17-16; 54: McGowan penalty 17-19; 75: J Rose try 22-19; 82: Lynch penalty 25-19.
Young Munster: M Lynch; F Hogan, M Mullins, L Doyle, C Casey; E Buckley, D Reddan; P Clohessy, B Cantrell, M Fitzgerald, P O'Connell, D Peters, M Ngarimu, K Gallagher, M te Pau. Replacements: M Connolly for Doyle; J Rose for Gallagher.
Blackrock: N Turner; C Kilroy, D Quinlan, M Jackson, G Browne; A McGowan, D Popplewell; I McLaughlin, S Byrne, N Treston, R Casey, L Cullen, D McGettigan, R Rogers, R Murphy.
Referee: O Trevor (Munster).
