Club Notes: Week Ending 02.10.16

This week’s Club Notes come from Thurles RFC and Newcastle West RFC.

Thurles RFC Club Notes, courtesy of Brian Scanlon.

Thurles RFC Vs Kinsale RFC – Munster Junior League

Thurles RFC 38 – 8 Kinsale RFC

The Thurles First XV kick started their League Campaign with a 5 Try show against a Kinsale side who would have travelled to Tipperary in the hope of returning with a number of points in the bag. Thurles were looking for a better start to the season than this time last year, where they lost 2 out of their first 3 games and despite winning every other game, the team narrowly lost out on a promotion spot.

In what was a scrappy affair throughout, Thurles started brightest with Captain Eoghan O’Dwyer opening the scoring with a well worked try, following some great work from Shane McHugh, Colm Skehan & Paddy Phelan in the pack. John Lillis followed up with the extras and minutes later added a penalty to push the home sides lead out to 10-0.

Kinsale were starting to slowly bring themselves into the game when Thurles won possession again from some great work from Ciaran Ryan & Michael Ely on the ground, tackling & turning over a Kinsale attacker to set up an attack of their own, some poor tackling and some individual brilliance from Eoghan O’Dwyer followed and Thurles were over again, 17-0 as Lillis did the honors with the conversion again.

Kinsale did manage to get onto the scoreboard with an unconverted try, followed shortly by a penalty which reduced the deficit to 17-8 but Thurles continued to increase the pressure leading up to the half time break, this pressure proved too much for the Kinsale defence as Nicky Irwin, who was at his sniping best, sped over for Thurles’ third try of the game just on the half time whistle, Lillis slotted over the conversion for a half time scoreline of 24-8.

The second half kicked off, Thurles remained in control but were very sloppy with ball in hand which cost the home side a number of scoring chances. Where Thurles lacked the killer instinct at times in attack their defence was excellent, as Eoghan & Aidan Dwyer forced 4 turnovers in quick succession to kill any hopes Kinsale had of making progress up the field.

Thurles continued to battle on & their patience paid off & for the final, the passes that were going astray earlier started to stick as Eoghan O’Dwyer secured his hat-trick finishing off an excellent team move out wide, Lillis converted with an excellent kick from the corner and minutes later he raced under the post himself following a great move off the back of a scrum where he once again added the extras himself to leave the final score reading 38-8.

This was a great start to the season for Thurles but they will be fully aware that there is still plenty of work left to do on the training field to push on & keep improving following this encouraging start.

Next up for Thurles is an away trip to Waterford to take on Waterpark who are new to the Division following their relagation last season. The players and management would like to thank all those who made the effort to call up to support the team on Sunday, it was much appreciated by the players & management, we would hope to see many of you in Waterpark on Sunday for the 2.30pm kick off.

Thurles Scorers: Eoghan O’Dwyer (3 Tries), Nicky Irwin (1 Try) & John Lillis (1 Try, 5 Conversions, 1 Penalty).
Thurles Starting XV vs Kinsale: 1. Colm Skehan 2. Shane Nugent 3. Michael Ely 4. Shane McHugh 5. Brian Lyons 6. Ciaran Ryan 7. Paddy Phelan 8. Joey Kelly 9. Nicky Irwin 10. John Lillis 11. Tommy Connolly 12. Eoghan O’Dwyer (c). 13. Shane Moloney (B) 14. Dean McCormack 15. Tommy Stephens Subs Used: Phil Kelly, Aidan Dwyer & Frank Touhy.


THURLES WOMEN v SHANNON
SUNDAY 25th SEP

Thurles 8 – 0 Shannon
Thurles Senior Women took on a very strong physical side in Shannon's Women Seniors at home last Sunday. Conditions remained good throughout the match with rain holding off and with the pitch in top condition. In a very tight game both teams left nothing behind them!
This match was sometimes hard to watch with the referee not playing a lot of advantage the game became scrappy and any moment of lost concentration would prove pricely. Captain Maria Woodlock led throughout however tackling strongly and ensuring safe ball with quick ruck overs. Newcomer Leslie O'Sullivan who come into the scrums for the absent Laura Carroll, made some very strong carries. While Cheryl Pratt in her first season with Thurles controlled her wing well and caught some great high ball. Joanne Harrison, who controlled the scrums at the back also proved too strong in the lineouts for Shannon, with the aid of Maria and Jean Ryan who were lifting her enabling Jo to constantly pressure Shannon and compete and steal some of the lineouts. Miriam Harrison continues to show her leadership issuing decisive instructions from the start and leading the backs throughout the first half. Linda Ryan, who had a very strong game, made some excellent decisions off the back of scrums with the only try of the game starting with Linda providing a quick pass from a scrum to Miriam who then passed to Niamh Coman. Niamh took it on and went into contact allowing Jean Ryan to show her strength and skill and break through to score just right of the posts. The conversion was narrowly missed leaving the score at 5-0.
This Shannon side rallied immediately and came back stonger than before but some outstanding tackling by Thurles, in particular Ciara O'Dwyer, ensured that the game remained in Thurles favour. Newcomer Karen Cuddy despite playing in only her first season made some excellent tackles and showed no fear. Maria Whelan's speed on the ball and hard tackling made life difficult for Shannon and Nicola Sweeney proved very strong at the breakdown clearing out rucks and making some excellent carries. Just before half time Shannon broke the line strongly and looked sure to be in for a try but full back Aisling O'Hagan covered ground quickly and put the Shannon Full Back into touch with an excellent tackle.
In the second half it was still anybody's game and some smart play including from Megan Callanan who took a quick penalty and passed to Aisling O'Hagan caught Shannon off guard nearly allowing her in for a try. This time it was Shannon's full back with pay back who made a great tackle and caught Aisling on the 10 metre line. Megan Callanan provided Thurles with some much needed relief when she converted a penalty leaving the score at 8-0. The last ten minutes of the game Shannon threw everything at Thurles and they had to defend continuously. Hard belting tackles were needed to win out this match and bodies were put on the line. Stephanie Moore on the wing put in some important tackles and Aisling Byrne made sure there was no path through for Shannon to leave the final scoreline in Thurles favour at 8-0. Best wishes to Kirsty Harris who got injured early in the first half for a speedy recovery.

Thurles U15 & U18 Girls Rugby
The Thurles U15 and U18 Girls travelled to Waterpark RFC on Sunday for the first outing of the new season. While numbers in Girls rugby are growing all the time , early in the season, it can be difficult to field full teams and match days are often played as 13 a side. This was the case at Waterpark, where the U18 players from Thurles RFC combined with players from Fethard, Carrick on Suir, and Waterpark RFCs to play a 13 a side friendly. On a fine Sunday afternoon in Waterford, there was some excellent attacking rugby from both sides and a total of 19 tries being scored
Best for Thurles on the day were Niamh Moore, Sophie Sheehan, Melanie O Halloran, Aibhe Connolly, & Rachel Ryan, along with some stunning team, and individual tries from Annabelle Wynn Jones, Kate O Dwyer, Megan Woodlock & Amy McGrath
U15 Girls
It was also the first game of the season for the U 15 Girls with Tamasin Troy scoring 2 tries for Thurles in her first ever game of rugby. Also playing well for Thurles on Sunday were Ciara Scanlon and Kayleigh Cronin, both also making their U15 debut for Thurles.

Club Lotto
Thurles RFC Lotto 26th September 2016
Lotto Numbers: 5, 12, 23, 28
No Jackpot Winner
Match 3: Michael Quinlan, Tom Quinlan
Next Jackpot: €;6,300.00
Lotto Draw takes place at Thurles Rugby Clubhouse @ 7.30pm every Monday night
Tickets (€;2) are on sale in the following locations;
· O’ Dwyer’s Centra
· Kennedy’s Tower Lounge
· Hickey’s Pub
· Runnerbean Coffee Shop
To join the Thurles Rugby Club Lotto Syndicate and be in with a chance to win in 156 Draws, download the form @ http://thurlesrfc.com/lotto/
Thank you for your continued support!

Underage Training Times
Training Times for the new season
@ Thurles Rugby Club
U7 – U12 Saturday Morning 12:00 – 1:15
Boys U14 Monday & Thursday 7:15
Boys U16 Tuesday & Friday 7:15
Boys U18 Tuesday & Thursday 7:15
Girls U15 Tuesday & Thursday 7:15
Girls U18 Tuesday & Thursday 7:15

Newcastle West RFC Notes, courtesy of Martin O'Sullivan

Munster Junior League Division 1
Muskerry – 15 Newcastle West – 14
Luck deserted the lads on the opening day of the league last Sunday in Muskerry. Sean Murphy got our try with the returning Michael O’Leary kicking two penalties and Sean Neville adding a further 3 pointer meant Newcastle West lead going into the final minutes but the home team grabbed a late try to give the win and leave us with the losing bonus point.

Panel: Sean Ivess, Eoin Sheridan Miller, James Kelly, Cian Hinchy, Sean Murphy, Sean Neville, Tommy Kelleher, Declan Moloney, Sean Corbett, Shane Magner, Dave Foley, Padraig Fogarty, Gerald Griffin, James Corbett, Kealan Headd, Keith Ryan, Geraoid Pierce, Alan O’Riordan, Michael O’Leary, Sean McAuliffe, Shaun Berkery.

Our first home game is on Sunday next, October 2nd when we welcome Galbally to Cullinagh. Kick-off is at 2.30pm. Details below

Fixture, Munster Junior League Division 1 – Sunday 2nd October, Newcastle West v Galbally @ 2.30pm in Cullinagh

Mini blitzes are now beginning with first Blitz for U9s & U11s this weekend. All other minis Training is each Sunday in Kilelline 10:30 am to 11:30 am

Please continue to support all out teams in their Sunday fixtures and remember that memberships are still available from your Coaches or in Kilelline on Sundays.
Please feel free to call up on Sunday morning for a cup of tea/coffee/hot chocolate and browse in our Club shop.