Fraser McMullen Cup’s Final Four To Serve Up Easter Sunday Feast

The Fraser McMullen Cup competition annually crowns the best Under-20 Men’s club team in Ireland, and has been dominated by Leinster sides since Cork Constitution’s win in 2016.

This year’s opening round has teed up two mouth-watering semi-finals on Easter Sunday, with UCC having home advantage against MU Barnhall, and the UCD Bowl the venue for the meeting of regular JP Fanagan Premier 1 rivals, UCD and Clontarf.

MU Barnhall, captained by centre Alex Crowley (pictured below on the right), ran out impressive 40-12 winners over Shannon at Parsonstown. Ivor Fenton starred with a hat-trick of tries, while his back-three colleague, Neil Byrne, also contributed 15 points, including five conversions.

Shannon were competitive throughout against last season’s beaten finalists, and scored a couple of well-taken tries through Dave Keane and James Butler. Even when the scoreboard was against them in the second half, they continued to attack with tap penalties and a high-paced style.

However, once Barnhall drew level early on when Finn Leach fed Fenton to open his account, Tom McKeown’s youngsters laid the groundwork for a deserved victory. Jack O’Connor drove over from close range to put them ahead at 12-5.

Flanker Ethan Fennell stole a close-in lineout for an opportunist score, with Fennell soon following up to make it 26-5. Turnover ball allowed the electric Dylan Bruton to take on the Shannon defence on the outside, releasing Byrne to cross the whitewash.

Shannon battled on, getting into double figures themselves, but in their determined efforts to launch a late attack from deep, a loose ball was snaffled by pacy winger Fenton to complete his hat-trick.

The young Blue Bulls certainly displayed their credentials as contenders for the Fraser McMullen Cup this year. Their next challenge is a trip back to the Mardyke, bringing back memories of last April’s exhaustive semi-final against UCC which went to extra-time.

That game finished 28-all and Barnhall advanced to the final on the away team tiebreak. The likes of Byrne, Bruton, Conan Gartland, Leach, Harry Peavoy, Fennell, and Sam Mills were part of that 2025 group that reached the decider.

UCC booked their place in the last-four for the second year running thanks to a hard-fought 21-19 triumph over Lansdowne. Out-half Declan Fitzgerald’s accuracy from the tee proved crucial in the end with three conversions out of three.

Emmet Farrell’s well-drilled Lansdowne side built a 14-0 lead after 21 minutes at the Mardyke, and also cancelled out an Alex O’Connell score to lead 19-7 at the interval.

However, UCC followed up on a yellow card for the visitors with two timely converted tries from Daragh Prenter (50 minutes) and Daire O’Callaghan (59). Conor Twomey’s young guns kept their composure during the closing stages to see out the result.

Arguably the match of the round took place at Dooradoyle where Garryowen went very close to upsetting title holders Clontarf. This was a terrific advertisement for Irish age-grade club rugby, the ebb and flow of the game making for a gripping encounter right to the final seconds.

Garryowen U-20 head coach Conan Doyle commented: “It was a very good game, both teams battled really hard. Up front it was a fierce contest and we had a fine evening in Dooradoyle, so the ball was moving fast in open play.

“We were disappointed not to clinch the win at the very end, but Clontarf were deserving of getting to the semi-final.”

Coached by Ian Smith (pictured above), Clontarf showed their set-piece strengths to open the scoring in Limerick. On the back of a scrum penalty, a well-executed lineout maul provided the platform for Rory O’Connor O’Hehir to plunge over for an unconverted try.

The recent Donal Walsh Trophy winners, Garryowen wasted little time in responding. Number 8 Adedamola Obasa threatened out wide before winning a lineout, setting the wheels in motion for a drive from which captain Harry Gleeson crashed over.

Marcus Joyce’s well-struck conversion split the sides until the Clontarf forwards converted some pressure into points. Hooker O’Connor O’Hehir went close to doubling his tally, but fellow front rower John Cadogan was able to score from a subsequent tap penalty. Niall Cox converted.

Back came Garryowen, their lively scrum half Chulainn Williams sniping through from a quickly-taken penalty. Gleeson was held up soon after, but when they came hunting again, tighthead Mark Fitzgerald produced a fine finish from a bobbling lineout ball in windy conditions.

With the teams tied at 12-all, Clontarf captain Daragh Doyle led by example with a key try, early in the second half. He picked from a ruck a few metres out and muscled his way over for Cox to convert, to the left of the posts.

A penalty goal from Joyce had the young Light Blues trailing by just four points, setting up a grandstand finish. Garryowen dug deep to hold out on their own try-line, and ended up going agonisingly close to a match-winning try in the dying seconds, with a knock-on seeing them go unrewarded.

‘Tarf move on to play UCD at the semi-final stage, the students not lining out last Sunday as injuries forced Nenagh Ormond to concede their game. The north Dubliners beat College twice during the JP Fanagan group stages earlier this season, winning 14-12 in Belfield and 27-26 at home.

FRASER MCMULLEN CUP SEMI-FINALS:

Sunday, April 5 –

UCC v MU BARNHALL, the Mardyke, 2.30pm

UCD v CLONTARF, UCD Bowl, 2.30pm

QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS:

Saturday, March 28 –

GARRYOWEN 15 CLONTARF 19, Dooradoyle

Sunday, March 29 –

MU BARNHALL 40 SHANNON 12, Parsonstown

UCC 21 LANSDOWNE 19, the Mardyke

UCD v NENAGH ORMOND, UCD Bowl (Match conceded by Nenagh Ormond due to injuries)