A LATE resurgence by Old Crescent saw them reach the final of the Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Cup with a 30-22 home win against fierce rivals Shannon.
Glen Kelly opened the scoring with a penalty for Crescent but tries by Kieran Kennedy and Matt Te Pau and a conversion by Cillian O’Conor put Shannon in front.
Casey Tanyl Ebai scored a try for Old Crescent to leave Shannon 12-8 ahead at the interval.
Tr Pau scored his second try and O’Connor converted in the opening minute of the second half extended Shannon’s advantage to 11 points.
Paudie Monaghan closed the gap with a try for the home side and Kelly converted.
O’Connor replied with a penalty for Shannon, but Crescent dominated the final quarter with tries from Joe Rickard and John Toland, with Kelly kicking a conversion and a penalty for a famous victory for the Rosbrien club.
Crescent were recent winners of the North Munster Under-21 League Final, courtesy of an exciting 21-19 defeat of Nenagh Ormond.
Michael Cleary converted Sean Donnarumma’s injury time try to clinch the win.
Earlier five-pointers came from Jack Somers and Lee White.
Meanwhile, Thomond’s hopes of qualifying for the All Ireland League were dashed when Bective Rangers won the All-Ireland Junior Promotion Play-off Final at Cill Dara RFC (Kildare).
A five-star try burst in the opening thirty minutes by Rangers was decisive, as a Thomond rally fell short in the closing stages.
Jason Kiely put Thomond into an early 3-0 lead, but the Limerick side trailed 33-3 not long after.
In fairness ,Thomond never gave up the fight and tries by Jamie McGarry and Eoghan Sherlock, both converted by Kiely, saw the Limerick side trail 33-17 at half-time.
A Kiely try and conversion closed the gap to nine points, but two penalties from Gilsenan saw Bective extend their lead to 39-24.
A Kiely penalty and a try by Jake Connolly, converted by Kiely closed the margin, but Bective held out for the victory.
Thomond now face Cork Constitution in the Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Cup semi-final next week before traveling up to face Omagh Academicals a week later in another attempt to see who will claim the final place in Division 2C of the All Ireland League.
And, the All Ireland Women’s League Final will be a repeat of last year’s decider as both holders UL Bohemian and Railway Union won their semi-finals.
Bohemian defeated Blackrock College 15-12 at Annacotty.
Blackrock raced into an early 12-0 lead.
A try by Chisom Ugwueru left the home side trailing 12-5 at half-time but tries from captain Chloe Pearse and Clara Barrett saw the Limerick side progress.
