McCarthy the Christians saviour
CBC cork 21 Crescent College 17
Munster schools Snr Cup
John McCarthy'S try with 45 seconds remaining propelled Christian Brothers Cork into the semi-finals after a pulsating battle at Musgrave Park yesterday.
CBC had spent the bulk of the game in arrears, but centre McCarthy evaded three tackles before crossing under the posts to edge them ahead, Dave O'Riordan adding the extras.
It was just reward for CBC, who had pinned Crescent College back inside their '22' for most of the second half.
O'Riordan, who kicked 11 points, opened up CBC's account in the second minute before a try from Crescent's JJ O'Neill put Crescent ahead.
The Limerick boys extended the gap to eight points after 12 minutes when a flowing move culminated in Jack Hogan flying in at the corner.
With Gearóid Lyons adding the conversion, Crescent were in a commanding position.
A 28th-minute penalty from O'Riordan cut the deficit to six, and the CBC out-half made it 12-9, before the winners went ahead on 58 minutes thanks to flanker Michael Ryan touching down after a concerted spell of pressure.
That gave Christians a two-point advantage, but two minutes later Crescent went back in front as Lyons surged over to make it 17-14 -- his conversion went wide, though.
There was to be one last twist in the tale, as McCarthy's burst of pace secured a fantastic win for the Leesiders.
CBC -- T Quinlan; G Ryan, T Morehead, J McCarthy, C McAuliffe; D O'Riordan, C O'Regan (R Foley 46); C Slowey, R Daly (L O'Connor 65), R Burke; T Arrigan, D Moloney; A Mintern (A McCarthy 41), M Ryan, D Stokes.
CRESCENT -- G O'Shea; J Frawley, JJ O'Neill, G Barry (N Kerr 45), J Hogan; G Lyons, R O'Doherty (C Monaghan 68); S McGee (J Dinneen 45), J Green, N Horan; S Gleeson, E Casserly; J Kavanagh, D Dee, C Blake.
REF -- D McCormack (MAR).
Irish Independent
