PBC secure quarter final spot after victory over Castletroy in the Senior Cup

Pres started their defence of the trophy with relatively comfortable win over Castletroy College in Muskerry RFC in Cork.

Sean French got the Cork school on the board with an early try which was soon followed by a second following a lineout in the middle of the field but both tries were unconverted and when Castletroy’s Sam Burns opened his side’s scoring, it looked as though they could be in with a chance of an upset at 10-3.

Things got even better for the Limerick school when, after the break, Eoin Murphy slid in under the posts following a scrum on the PBC 22 metre line to reduce the defecit to just two points.

However it was all Pres’ after that and they had their third try of the game soon after conceding their first. Jonathan Wren powered over after a PBC scrum on the visitors 22.

Towards the end of the tie, poor defending, combined with good play saw captain Billy Scannell and French get over to secure the 25-8 victory and a spot in the quarters for the reigning champions.

Castletroy now go into the second round where a win will only do to reach the quarter finals.

PBC: Louis Bruce; Niall Murphy, Se French, Jonathan Wren, Sam O’Donovan; James Broderick, David Harrington; Tom Ormond, Billy Scannell, David McCarthy; Darragh O’Callaghan, Eoin Burns; Alex Kendellen, Mark Fitzgibbon, David Hyland.

Replacements: Darragh Murphy, Alex Keating, Rory Duggan, Eoin Quilter, John Forde, James O’Shaughnessy, mark McLoughlin, Sam Horgan, Jack Kelleher, Richie Foley.

Castletroy College: Sean Madden; Jason Aylward, Eoin Murphy, joseph Johnston, Cian Fitzgibbon; Sam Burns, Michael O’Hanrahan, Ronan Keavney, Kieran O’Shea, Adam Myers; Graham Bourke, John Moloney; Cillian Toland, Conor Birmingham, Cian White.

Replacements: Robert Magill, Alex Naughton, Dean McGinn, Jamie Reidy, Gareth Moore, Ronan Kiely, Robert Holmes, Kenneth McGuire, James Coates, Callum Duffy.