Junior Cup Quarter-Final Line-Up Complete

…The draw for the AIB Junior Cup quarter-finals will be made next Tuesday (January 16)…

Last weekend saw Boyne come from behind to shock Cobh Pirates, the reigning Munster Junior League Division 1 champions, and complete the quarter-final line-up for the 2006/07 AIB Junior Cup.

In the re-fixed game at the Paddocks, Cobh dominated the opening half despite including a new centre partnership in John Barry-Murphy and James Murphy, who was making his first start at inside centre. J2 player Alan Walley was also included on the left wing.

Cobh wasted little time in taking the lead – the game was only four minutes old when scrum half Will Dunne nipped over the try line after an excellent rolling maul from the hosts’ pack.

Ian Dunne’s Cobh side moved 12-0 ahead when, after Eamon Ronan kicked a penalty to touch, quick thinking from full-back Niall Walley saw him get over for an opportunistic try. He took the resultant lineout, throwing the ball to himself and sprinted over the line much to the delight of the home support.

Boyne were miffed that referee Dave O’Shea had allowed the score but they clearly saved up some of their frustrations for the second half as they staged a dramatic comeback.

A 43rd-minute penalty from Niall Kerby immediately reduced the arrears for the Meath outfit, whose strong defence kept Cobh at bay during the third quarter. Kerby added his second penalty on 63 minutes and the stage was set for a grandstand finish.

Wayne Mitchell, Boyne’s player-coach, willed his players on from scrum half and the try they were looking for came in the second minute of injury-time. With Cobh down to 14 men as Alan Walley had been caught holding back a Boyne player off the ball, the visitors struck when they moved the ball wide and numbers saw winger Paul Rice stretch over in the corner.

Kerby held his nerve to swing over the all-important conversion and while Cobh, who unfortunately lost lock Kevin Geary to a shoulder ligament injury, had chances to hit back in the dying moments – Ronan skewed a drop goal shot wide and a long range penalty attempt dropped short – it is Boyne who progressed into the next round.

So that means the teams that have qualified for the quarter-finals of this season’s AIB Junior Cup are:

Armagh, Boyne, Coleraine, Crosshaven, Dromore, Limavady, Mallow and Seapoint

The quarter-final matches are scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 10. The draw for the ‘last eight’ will be made next Tuesday, January 16, at AIB headquarters.

The draw for the AIB Cup quarter-finals will also take place on Tuesday. The competition’s first round proper is being played out on Saturday, with all games having a 2pm kick-off time, apart from the clash of Belfast and Nenagh Ormond at Deramore Park (2.30pm).