Kilfeacle Pipped in U18 Final

A try in the final minute of a pulsating contest denied Kilfeacle & District victory in the final of the All Ireland Under 18 Championship at Naas on Sunday.

A try in the final minute of a pulsating contest denied Kilfeacle & District victory in the final of the All Ireland Under 18 Championship at Naas on Sunday.

With time almost up, Kilfeacle led 8-7 and looked certain to claim a famous win but then Navan struck when Neil Aughey crossed for his side’s second try to snatch the spoils right on full time. Navan had opened the scoring when a Christy Finn try was converted by Colin Murphy to give the pre-match favopurites a 7 nil lead.

Kilfeacle refused to buckle and although their cause wasn’t helped when their Irish International number 10 Ian Hanly was forced to retire they came back with a try from Mark Bourke and then a penalty from the same player to edge into an 8-7 lead. Fierce defence kept Navan at bay and the Co Neath looked to have run out of ideas until Aughey struck with that late score.

All Ireland U18 Championship Final:

Navan 12-8 Kilfeacle & District.

Kilfeacle & District RFC.

D Hennessey; J English, P English, E Davern, M Bourke; I Hanly, A Long; R Hayes, P Peters, K Griffin; L O’Gorman, B O’Leary; S Redfern, K Blake, M Power. Replacement. I Burns, M Coleman, J Hayes, S Heffernan, E Kinane, T O’Farrell, D Carr.

Scorers: M Bourke, try, pen.

Navan.

A McCormack; D Murray, L Kirwan, D Geraghty, C Finn; C Murphy, B Forrestal; R Feeney, C Brady, S Gallagher; S Byrne, C Dunphy; A Joyce, D Harlin, B Smyth. Replacements. B Yates, T Lenehan, A Delahunt, F Power, J Brady, N Cullinane, N Aughey.

Scorers: C Finn (try), N Aughey (try), C Murphy (con).

Referee: Colin Stanley (ARLB).