McMahon's try proves pivotal as Glenstal give holders a fright
Rockwell College 5 Glenstal Abbey 3
Holders Rockwell had to pull out all the stops to ensure a home quarter-final tie with a narrow victory over Glenstal at Clanwilliam Park yesterday.
Glenstal came within a whisker of causing a major shock when a well-struck penalty attempt from out-half Luke Bradley in injury-time dropped inches short of the Rockwell crossbar.
The Tipperary side opened the scoring midway through the first half when winger Steve McMahon collected a delightfully placed crossfield kick from out-half Aidan Moynihan before touching down.
Resilient Glenstal hit back immediately when impressive out-half Bradley landed a penalty from in front of the posts after Rockwell had failed to collect the restart.
Rockwell held onto their narrow lead at the interval and enjoyed the majority of the possession in the second half thanks to the hard work of Rob Jermyn, Sean McCarthy and Sonny O'Dwyer as well as McMahon, but could never breathe easily with only a one-score lead.
The winners won the right to host Limerick side Castletroy College when a semi-final place will be up for grabs, while Glenstal can also advance to the last four under the 'second chance' system. However, to do so they must overcome traditional cup heavyweights PBC, Cork.
Rockwell -- D Johnston; A Lynch, R Jermyn, C Kiely, S McMahon; A Moynihan, D Megagh; J McCormack, D Mulcahy, J Maxwell; S McCarthy, D Foley; J Feehan, S O'Dwyer, A Butler.
Glenstal Abbey -- S Gleeson; E Hurley, A Boland, I Kenny, R Shanahan; L Bradley, A Devereaux; D Higgins; C McCarthy, K Grennan; K Lynch, M O'Riordan; I McCarthy, R Dooley, T Ryan.
Ref -- S Kierans (MAR)
Irish Independent
