Navan And Shannon/St. Mary’s Win All-Ireland Age Grade Finals

The Navan Under-17s were up first in the double header and put in a strong second half performance to beat a gritty Bruff side.

It was all square at half-time and with Bruff having missed a penalty in a stiff wind.

Navan got the scoring underway in the second half with a try from Fergal Cleary converted by Eamonn Sheridan.

Bruff pulled it back to 7-7 with a converted try but Navan ran in two more scores to take the game and the trophy on a final scoreline of 17-7.

Highlights on IrishRugby TV on youtube

In the Under-19 final, Shannon/St. Mary’s had to withstand a late surge from Malone before running out 21-16 winners.

Conor Burns and Tim Durkan traded early penalties and the Limerick side were 6-3 to the good and gradually grabbed the game by the scruff.

Number 8 Craig McCallum reached over from close range following a lineout to give Shannon/St. Mary’s their first try after 33 minutes, with Burns adding the conversion to leave it 11-3 at half-time.

David Evans added another try in the second half and Burns” conversion made it 18-3. A 50th minute penalty seemed to galvanise Malone but Burns landed another penalty to make it 21-6 late in the game.

A yellow card for Alex McNamara saw Shannon/St. Mary’s reduced to 14 men with ten minutes to play and Malone came with their late charge. An enormous drive from their pack lead to a scrum and a quick ball saw Jack McMurty score for Malone.

They kept up the pressure and were rewarded with Gary Andrews’ injury-time try to reduce the lead to five points. The young Limerick outfit held out for the remaining minutes to seal the witn and the trophy.

Highlights on IrishRugby TV on youtube