Rockwell College overcome arch rivals in final clash

Rockwell College's under 15 'B' side ground out a meritorious home victory over their arch rivals Crescent College from Limerick in the McCarthy Plate final on Friday 9th December.

The first 20 minutes of this intriguing contest was very even with neither side dominating. However, a Crescent knock on allowed Bob Barton to play advantage, running down the sideline and finishing under the post. Rockwell failed to convert and the final ten minutes of the first half saw Crescent gain the upper hand. With a quick tap penalty, the Limerick students went over the line before duly converting, leaving the score at half time 7-5.

In the second half, Rockwell started to move the ball more fluently from side to side and kept Crescent on the back foot, pinning them down in their own half. 15 minutes in Crescent kicked to touch and Rockwell turned over the line out. Two plays later, Rockwell’s Juan Pablo Gomez received an offload and showed great dexterity in avoiding would-be tackles to score in the corner, but again Rockwell were unable to convert.

Following this Crescent bombarded the Rockwell line, but a very capable defence held resolute with Casey Jay Coleman standing out commanding throughout. Cathal Ryan made some great breaks and Remi Ediale’s tackling also proved a thorn in Crescent’s side. Tom Downey turned over a number of balls in the ruck, ably abetted by Matthew Burke. Ethan Casey also influenced the game when he came into the fray, helping Rockwell run out three point winners on a scoreline of 10-7.  

Rockwell: Remi Ediale, Cameron Marnane, Matthew Burke, Harry Quirke, Alex Buchelli, Brendan Cantwell, Cathal Ryan, Tom Downey, Iain Harrington, Conor Hogan, Zac Lynch, Casey Jay Coleman, Juan Pablo Gomez, Bob Barton, Tom Ross.

Subs: Ethan Casey, David Carroll, Tarcisio Chanda, Peter Keating, Robert Murphy, Shane Neville, Mark Kearney, Edmund Dunphy, Ben Farrelly.