Oisin Pepper crossed late on in the second half to ensure safe passage for St Munchins into the Semi Finals of the Munster Schools Senior Cup as they overcame Ardscoil Ris this afternoon.

Ardscoil must now endure a quarter final with either Bandon Grammar or Crescent College to continue their charge in the Cup, Munchins controlling a lot of the tie.

Muchins attacked from the off and put the Ardscoil defensive line under pressure and made them work hard to try keep them at bay, the pressure continued and resulted in Oisin Minogue getting over for an opening try in the sixth minute, fy-half Cillian O’Connor was composed to step up and add the extras off the tee.

Momentum stayed with Munchins as four minutes later they added a second try, another attacking move saw them shy of the line, Jake O’Riordan the scrum-half waited at the back of the maul but had the ball slapped away by Luke Murphy, the referee awarded a penalty and the Ardscoil Number 8 went to the bin, another big drive led to Danny Williamson crossing for the try, O’Connor again able to dissect the posts for two more.

We entered the feeling out process after the second half as both teams were looking to gain ground, Ardscoil needed to press on being down 14-0, they looked to have gotten a try in the midway mark of the opening half but the referee saw something he didn’t like and awarded Munchis a penalty.

Late in the half Ardscoil fond touch inside the Munchins 22, a strong lineout and maul put the within distance of the line, the forwards did the grunt work and Murphy banned earlier on the half was the man to get his side on the board with a try, Aaron Bryne’s added the extras to make it a seven point game.

Time was still there for another score, Munchins went back on the offensive and a penalty on the five metre line saw them kick for touch, the lineout was swatted back toward the Ardscoil line with a turnover the final act of an entertaining half, with Munchins leading 14-7 at the break.

Six minutes into the second half Ardscoil got on the board, they drove well and looked to get an early try as their friwards aided them creeping forward, however the referee called play back and awarded a penalty to Ardscoil which Bryne’s pointed to the posts, his strike was clean as he made it a four point game.

Action continued but either side was able to break the deadlock as we approached the hour mark, an intentional knock on saw Alan Fitzgerald heading to the bin as the winger for Munchins halted play, then would turnover possession seconds later and work it up the field to within inches of the line, a penalty was called again they went for touch shy of five metres the lineout won possession but the referee called a penalty for Ardscoil to clear.

They made ground between the 22 and 10 metre lines, pressured their aul worked well and Byrne’s cleared, Matt Te Pou gathered the clearance kick and his pass to Adam Cusack saw the winger race clear beyond halfway he offloaded to Oisin Pepper and the centre had pace to burn to cross in the corner, O’Connor missed the kick as their lead was 19-10 with time up.