Bandon through to Munster Schools Senior Cup semi-final

BOUNCING back from their loss to Christian Brothers Cork last month, Bandon Grammar are through to the semi-finals of the Pinergy Munster Schools Senior Cup after their emphatic 17-0 quarter-final win against Rockwell College at Musgrave Park last week.

Bandon’s reward is a semi-final clash against Crescent College Comprehensive, initially due to be played on Thursday this week but it was postponed on Wednesday due to adverse weather conditions.

In their opening Munster Schools Senior Cup game at the end of January Bandon lost 37-25 to Christian Brothers Cork, but the West Cork school, who topped schools’ U19 Munster Senior Cup Group B, still impressed. They scored four tries against CBC, as Fionn O’Neill, Dylan O’Driscoll, Peter O’Sullivan and Barry Spearman-Walsh all touched down, while Jeff Williams added one penalty and one conversion. It wasn’t enough to stop the Daire Burke-inspired CBC, but Bandon regrouped for their quarter-final against Rockwell.

Two first-half tries from Barry Spearman-Walsh, both unconverted, saw Bandon Grammar lead 10-0 at the break, a deserved lead as they looked the more dangerous outfit. Tipperary team Rockwell tried to rally in the second half but Bandon were equal to their best. In fact, it was Bandon that got the next score late on when Jay C van der Westhuizen broke through the Rockwell defence and passed to Peter O’Sullivan who crossed under the posts. Jeff Williams made no mistake with the conversion to rubber-stamp a commanding 17-0 win that sent them into the last four of the senior cup.

Bandon Grammar School: Paddy Gaffney, Barry Spearman-Walsh, Peter O’Sullivan, Liam McCarthy, Conor Ryan, Jeff Williams, Dylan O’Driscoll, Jack O’Regan, Daniel McGarvey, Mitchell Connolly, Sean Coughlan, Ben Kingston, Conor Miskella, Jay C van der Westhuizen, Adam Murphy. Replacements: Fionn O’Neill, Karl O’Regan, Shadrach Nnamani, Rory O’Callaghan, Liam Prior, Lous McVitty, Shane Hathaway, Ben O’Connor.

Rockwell College: Peter McGarry, Conor Neville, Henry Buttimer, Robert Wall, Zac O’Loughlin, Kian O’Reilly, Oisin O’Dwyer, Michael Long, Dillon Crowley, Jamie Browne, Conor Bowen, Jack Ryan, Joseph Lawrence, Jock Fogarty, Brian Gleeson. Replacements: Rory McKevitt, Osato Ediale, Ben Everard, Tom O’Dea, Alex Harold-Barry, Clement McAuliffe, Will Bermingham, Tadhg Carey, Toby Collier, Luca Fitzgerald.