Hedderman keeps Christians in control

THE scoreboard was not a true reflection on the game as Ardscoil Rís made CBC battle all the way for a place in the quarter-finals.

Christians dominated the opening half and led 20-7 at half time. They got off to a great start inside the first minute when Thomas Downes got in for a try after a break by Eoghan Barrett.

Daragh O’Gorman was off target with an Ardscoil penalty and a super maul by the Christians pack resulted in Ben Roche touching down and Robert Hedderman converted for a 12-0 lead after eight minutes.

Hedderman added a penalty before good work by the Ardscoil pack through Daniel Okeke, Will O’Callaghan and Brian Noonan resulted in Rhys Tucker barging over for a try and O’Gorman converted.

Two minutes before the interval a swift counterattack by Christians saw Hedderman make the extra man to score in the corner.

Ardscoil had Christians pinned back for the opening 20 minutes of the second half but could not penetrate a solid defence. Late tries from Eoin Monahan and Ronan Barry gave Christians a flattering victory.

CBC – R Hedderman; M Bowen, E Barrett, T Downes (H O’Riordan 62), A O’Connor; C Whooley (E Monahan 62), J O’Riordan (F Burke 55); M Donnelly (R Loftus 52), D O’Connor (D Good 52), L Masters; D McAuliffe, J Willis; C Barry (L Kahn 48), R Barry (C Rasmussen 69), B Roche.

ARDSCOIL RÍS – C O’Reilly; C Murphy, K Dineen, G Clancy (D O’Byrne 66), L O’Shanahan (A McNamara 50); D O’Gorman, I Leonard (C Moloney 60); M Gaule (O Czyszczon 65), R Tucker, F Lyons; B Noonan, W O’Callaghan (E Roche 69); M O’Callaghan (J Taylor 58), J Ward Murphy, D O’Keeffe (S Cleary 37).

REF – S Kierans (MAR)