Corinthians 36 - 15 Old Crescent

Corinthians achieved a fine win against Old Crescent in Cloonacauneen on Saturday. The home side opted to play against a strong wind in the first half which almost paid dividends from the off, with a powerful drive by the pack. A spill by young prop Denis Buckley on the Crescent line however saved the visitors and for the remainder of the first half it was all Crescent. With the visitors pack turning over ball in the ruck on Corinthians twenty five, Crescent scrum half Chris de Loose got the ball out to his number ten Mark Woods who broke through the home side cover and set up his winger Marcus O Connell to touch down in the corner. Fullback Paddy Carroll missed the conversion. Three minutes later Crescent were over for another try after a lineout on Corinthians five yard line with the home side caught napping when the visitors captain Mark Ryan cleaned out the lineout and dived over for an opportunist score .Paddy Carroll converted same leaving the score nil to 12 for Old Crescent after twenty minutes. Corinthians gave away a penalty on the thirty minute after loose play by the back line which Carroll duly converted. Corinthians knuckled down to the job in hand as another score for the visitors would put them out of sight. There was a sigh of relieve from the home supporters as the halftime whistle blew with Crescent again on the home side line and a half time score of 0 – 15.
Corinthians with the wind behind them started slowly enough in the second half but the game changed dramatically as referee Michael Tracy yellow carded Crescents most influential player Mark Ryan. During that period Corinthians ran in for two scores, the first by number nine Mike Roche which was a solo effort after good work by the pack. The second was scored by centre Eoin Griffin after another great drive by the back row in particular with outhalf Bayden Morey converting same leaving the score twelve points to fifteen in favour of the visitors. Corinthians continued to put the pressure on with fine fielding by Gary Ward and Captain Pat Cunningham. The next score came from a good lineout with hooker Dave Barden throwing great ball especially with the strong wind making play difficult. Roche got the ball out quickly for fullback Darren Classens to come into the line and score in the corner. At this stage the home side were looking for a bonus point which came in the thirty fifth minute this was again a back row effort with flanker Liam Carpenter touching down with help of Casanova and Cunningham. Morey converted same and he also converted a subsequent penalty. Carpenter was again to the fore scoring the final try of the day with the visitors in disarray, Morey again converted same leaving the final score Corinthians 36 – Old Crescent 15.
Corinthian Team: D Classens, S Mullaly, E Griffin, W Williams,(C Begley),F Gormley, B Morey, M Roche, D Buckley, D Barden, D Small, D Phelan, G Ward, P Cunningham(Capt.),L Carpenter, A Casanova,