Munster Haka

Report from Musgrave Park by Tom McGrath,  pictures provided by David Fogarty along with a fan snap from David Madden. 

CBC ran out narrow victors over aN extremely courageous PBC who put in a very valiant effort and were unlucky not to come away with the win themselves!
  
The rivalry between the two school stretches back over 107 years with each school winning 28 Munster schools senior cups, sharing the record between them and was clear this was going to go down in the record books as arguable one of the biggest games between the two sides!

The large crowd swelled before kick off as the tension built inside Irish Independent Park and by half two the stands were almost full. And as always when these two giants meet it was a sight to behold with both sets of supporters trying to out do each other as the noise level rose and the stands lit up with flares and smoke bombs just like a Turkish football stadium minutes before kick off! A theme which continued right the way throughout the game right up until the final whistle.

  
As the smoke cleared the game got under way and it wasn’t long before PBC had a chance to put the first points on the board 

When they were awarded a penalty on the halfway line slightly off to the right hand side of the pitch but Sean French put it short and wide and the game continued! 

Moments later James Taylor had a chance to put CBC ahead but he too missed left!

The game remained scoreless until a CBC clearance kick was blocked down by the huge Jack o Sullivan who chased after the ball to score in the corner! Peter Sylvester failed to add the extras from an extremely difficult kick in truth. 5-0 PBC 
CBC were again put under pressure but a fabulous chip from Liam Coombes from inside his own 22 was collected by Barry Galvin and the ball was bought back up to the half way line. CBC then went through the phases before winning a penalty which was slotted over by James Taylor.
PBC kept CBC deep inside there own half with some excellent defending until some effective foot work saw Alex McHenry break before offloading to Ross o Neill who lined up Liam coombes for a well deserved try! James Taylor kicked the conversion and it was 10-5 at the break!

Early into the second half James Taylor kicked again to make it 13-5 and things really began to heat up from here.
PBC rallied back by the supporters who tried there best to give there team a lift as more flares where lit and there efforts were almost reward but a fantastic try saving tackle from Christians Ian Casey put the ball in touch! CBC held and held as PBC knocked on the door again and again eventually the ball was spread wide from a beautiful Jonathan Wren pass to Sean French and CBCs Barry Galvin very best efforts weren’t enough to stop him scoring in the corner. Peter Sylvester split the posts with a world class effort to reduce the Gap to one point!

  
PBC Jack o Sullivan put in several huge Carries breaking the CBC line on numerous occasions and off the back of one of these breaks PBC looked certain to score but CBC Feeney ripped the ball from his hands in a try saving tackle and the cycle started again! 

For there efforts PBC were awarded a penalty and after much debate they decided to kick for the corner and with the game in the balance won the ball from there own line out a score was very much on the cards as they inch their way over the gain line time after time? Suddenly CBC’s fan favourite PK blew through a ruck collecting the ball on his way for a vital turn over and the CBC stand exploded into a sea of red smoke as CBC worked there way up the pitch only to be placed right back on their 22 with another Jack o Sullivan break but a costly turnover ment Liam coombes could kick clear again and relive the pressure again! 
CBC managed to hold PBC back in their own half this time though and when CBC were award a late penalty the stand once again exploded with red smoke as the tension spilled over and atmosphere inside the stadium reached its high! 

James Taylor missed the penalty left but it didn’t matter as CBC held out for a Historic win over the cork counter parts! They will now face either Crescent or Castletroy in the final!!