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Bank of Ireland Munster Senior Challenge Cup Final

Nenagh Ormond RFC v Young Munster RFC

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Young <strong>Munster</strong>’s Alan<br />

Kennedy in action in last<br />

season’s Bateman <strong>Cup</strong><br />

<strong>Final</strong> in Musgrave Park<br />

A HISTORY OF THE BATEMAN CUP<br />

The <strong>Cup</strong> was presented<br />

to the IRFU by Godfrey<br />

Bateman, in memory <strong>of</strong> his<br />

sons Major Reginald John<br />

Godfrey Bateman, Canadian<br />

Infantry, who was killed in<br />

battle, in Dury, France, on<br />

the 3rd <strong>of</strong> September 1918,<br />

aged 34, and Captain Arthur<br />

Cyril Bateman, M.B. Dublin<br />

University, who died near<br />

Cambrai in France on 28th<br />

March 1918.<br />

The competition was<br />

played annually between<br />

the four provincial <strong>Senior</strong><br />

<strong>Cup</strong> winners on the last<br />

weekend <strong>of</strong> the season, with<br />

the exception <strong>of</strong> 1933 and<br />

1934 when a number <strong>of</strong> the<br />

provincial cup campaigns<br />

had not been completed<br />

on time. The tournament<br />

was finally terminated at<br />

the outbreak <strong>of</strong> the Second<br />

World War owing to the<br />

restriction on travel.<br />

Garryowen Football Club<br />

ran a once <strong>of</strong>f Bateman<br />

<strong>Cup</strong> style competition in<br />

the spring <strong>of</strong> 1975, this in<br />

conjunction with the IRFU<br />

Centenary Celebrations, the<br />

laurels eventually rested with<br />

St. Mary’s College.<br />

For the season 2010/11,<br />

the IRFU reverted back to<br />

the provincial structure<br />

having run with an open<br />

draw All-<strong>Ireland</strong> <strong>Senior</strong> <strong>Cup</strong><br />

competition for the five<br />

previous seasons.<br />

The Trophy has come to<br />

<strong>Munster</strong> on 11 occasions<br />

– Young <strong>Munster</strong> in 1928,<br />

University College Cork<br />

eight years later, Bruff in<br />

2011, Garryowen in 2012 and<br />

2019, and Cork Constitution<br />

in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016,<br />

2017 and 2020 (shared with<br />

Lansdowne).<br />

Cork Constitution (1922),<br />

by Frank Byford<br />

Garryowen (1925) and (1926)<br />

all fell to Leinster opposition<br />

at the final hurdle, before<br />

Young <strong>Munster</strong> came in<br />

1928, the boys from the<br />

‘Yellow Road’ won the<br />

<strong>Munster</strong> <strong>Senior</strong> <strong>Cup</strong> for the<br />

first time in thrilling fashion<br />

that year. Many pundits<br />

were <strong>of</strong> the opinion that this<br />

would be the limit <strong>of</strong> their<br />

ambitions, however, they<br />

surprised all and sundry by<br />

going on and winning the<br />

coveted trophy.<br />

Lansdowne who had<br />

enjoyed a very successful<br />

season, losing only 5 <strong>of</strong><br />

their 29 starts were the<br />

warmest <strong>of</strong> favourites<br />

to lift the trophy for the<br />

second time. As Instonians<br />

the Ulster standard<br />

bearers had withdrawn<br />

from the competition, the<br />

headquarters side were<br />

expected to have an easy<br />

passage. Young <strong>Munster</strong><br />

BANK OF IRELAND MUNSTER SENIOR CHALLENGE CUP 2022/23 13

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