Forward drive sees Ardscoil through

Schools Rugby/Munster Junior Cup/Ardscoil Ris 10 St Munchin's 6: Two first-half tries paved the way for Ardscoil Rís to advance…

Schools Rugby/Munster Junior Cup/Ardscoil Ris 10 St Munchin's 6: Two first-half tries paved the way for Ardscoil Rís to advance to the semi-finals of the Munster Schools Junior Cup at Dooradoyle yesterday.

St Munchin's had some bad luck when they lost fullback Keith McCarthy and winger Paul Curtis to injury during the warm-up.

Despite conceding a second minute penalty by Eamonn Carr, Ardscoil were the dominant side throughout. Their forwards, with Tom Goggin, Niall Buckley and Pádraig Monaghan in top form, were in control throughout and it was no surprise forward drives led to both their tries.

The first came after 28 minutes from George O'Shea and, while Carr landed a second penalty for St Munchin's after 35 minutes, Ardscoil had their second try just on half-time from Goggin after play was held up for four minutes waiting for a ball!

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St Munchin's were further disrupted when centre Ger Quinlivan had to retire injured and flanker Keith McManus moved to the centre. Late on St Munchin's opted to run some close-in penalties but solid defence kept them out and Ardscoil go on to meet Castletroy College in the semi-final.

ARDSCOIL RÍS: J McGarry; C Airey, M Leonard, R Henehan, B Storan; E Commane, J Gavin; R McMahon, G O'Shea, N Buckley, K Walsh, P Monaghan, S Conway, I Hickey, T Goggin. Replacements: S Keane for McMahon; M Fitzgibbon for O'Shea.

ST MUNCHIN'S: B Drew; S Madden, D Crawford, G Quinlivan, M Conway; E Carr, B Mullins; E Ryan, A Connolly, J McGovern, R O'Donnell, G Ryan, E Hogan, K McManus, C Tsang. Replacements: C O'Shea for Quinlivan; I Wallace for Connolly.

Referee: J Quinn (Munster).