Club Notes: Week Ending 08.05.16

4th May 2016 By Munster Rugby

This week’s club notes come from Old Crescent and Thurles rugby clubs.

Old Crescent RFC

Courtesy of:- Frank Larkin, Club PRO

Old Crescent RFC Wins Munster Community Club of the Year Award

Old Crescent RFC was presented with the Munster Community Club of the Year Award at a reception in Irish Independent Park after the Munster win over Edinburgh last evening. Our picture shows Bertie Smith, President of the Munster Branch, presenting the Award to Pat Monaghan, Senior Vice President of Old Crescent RFC.

Munster Rugby, in conjunction with the IRFU Club and Volunteer Recognition Programme, made the award to Old Crescent RFC in recognition of its work in fostering linkages with its local community during the year, through the development of its grounds and facilities at Rosbrien and its promotion of rugby for all ages in the local community.

Speaking after the presentation, Pat Monaghan said he was delighted to accept the Award on behalf of Old Crescent RFC and he said the club will continue to build on its linkages in the community through the development and provision of first class grounds and facilities, and the coaching of rugby for all ages, at Rosbrien.

Thurles RFC

Courtesy of:- Brian Scanlon, Club PRO

Gleeson Cup Final 2016 Thurles RFC vs Clanwilliam RFC
Thurles Seconds bridge 15 year gap to win Gleeson Cup.
On Saturday evening Thurles seconds won the clubs first silverware of the season by defeating a strong
Clanwilliam side.
In a low scoring affair Thurles came out on top with 5 points to Clanwilliams 3. Thurles started strong and defensively were very solid, however they struggled to find fluency in their play and even though some chances were still created none were capitalised on. Clanwilliam had the lions share of the possession in the first half but never looked like scoring a try with their only score of the game coming from a well kicked penalty in the opening 20 mins.

In the second half Thurles started to come more and more into the game, with try opportunities being scuppered by uncharacteristic mistakes. Not capitalising on these chances nearly cost Thurles the game as Clanwilliam missed 2 penalty kicks one of which with only 7 minutes to go in the game. Mid way through the second half inside the Clan 22 Thurles were after earning the right to go wide and they duly did. The result was Eoghan O'Dwyer crossing the line after breaking through his opposition number. Tommy Connellys conversion attempt trailed wide and the score remained 5 – 3 to Thurles.

The Gleeson cup was collected by team captain Ollie Delaney and the lengthy celebrations began.
Shay Scanlon, Kevin O'Dwyer and John Lillis were thanked for their immense contribution to the season. All players, be they lucky enough to play on the day or not had in some way contributed to the victory and each individual has a lot to offer the club going forward with their continued commitment being essential for any future success.

Thurles U18 Boys, Bristol Tour 2016

On April 29th, the Thurles U18s team left their clubhouse for England to start their Bristol tour. During breakfast on Saturday morning, rumours quickly spread through the room that Southmead RFC, our first opponents, were unable to play the game planned for that afternoon. Soon, this was in fact confirmed by coach John Shaw. To make the most of it, the team travelled down to the grounds to do a training session. This was difficult as the ground on the pitch was rock hard and unforgiving. After about an hour of a training session, the boys the watched an entertaining end of season match between Ashley Down Old Boys 1st XV and their Over 30's Players. It's fair to say, no quarter was asked, or given.

On Sunday, 30th April, Thurles RFC had a game scheduled against Artesians RFC. After arriving at their clubhouse, the boys quickly got warmed up and within no time, the game had began. Within 5 minutes, Eoin Kerrane had opened the scoring for Thurles with a fantastic leg drive along the ground to get over the line. He was quickly followed by Darren O'Sullivan after selling the opposing 12 with a dummy and a quick hand off to a prop, a prolific dive just beside the base of the post made it 10-0 to Thurles.

At the re-start, Conor O'Hagan received an offload from Darren O'Sullivan inside his own 22 and ran the entire length of the pitch, using speed and agility to out manoeuvre at least half of the Artesian team, to score one of thej outstanding tries of the weekend. After a briskly called lineout move, Thurles were back over the line as Cillian Kavanagh cleverly released a ball from the back of a ruck out to Kieran Dunne, who was facing about a 9 on 1 situation in his favour. After taking a mere step he was over the line for yet another try for Thurles. After a quick move across the back line, Dylan O'Shaughnessy found himself with the ball and once again used agility and cunningness to go over the line for Thurles in the right-hand corner to continue racking up the points.
In true "Touring" fashion, the game became a very light hearted affair at this stage, which only made it more enjoyable to be a part of. After several rucks close to the try line, Seamus Telford, the Thurles captain who, by the way, was described as a credit to his team by the referee, went over the line to score a typical forwards try. Eoin Kerrane's nifty pick-and-go from the back of the ruck, coupled with an unbeatable hand off to the 15 brought Thurles yet another 7 points clear. The same man then made an outstanding run down the touchline, making ground by selling dummies to almost all players that stood in his way, and if it wasn't a dummy, it was the use of his dancing feet that got him to the line. An ankle tap proved costly however, as the referee deemed that the ball had not been grounded before Kerrane's feet had touched the touch line after a heroic effort. Furious with the referee's decision for disallowing such an outstanding try after he'd had confirmed it with his TMO, Thurles then carried on, continuing with the light hearted spirit of the game. After 3 Artesian tries, Thurles then replied through Jack Kavanagh. The stand in fly-half, using his prop instincts, picked a ball from the back of a ruck and used brute force to barge past 2 Artesians players to go over the line for Thurles.

The team then returned home on Monday 2nd May. Massive thanks from all the players, to all involved, particularly head coach, John Shaw for organising an exceptional weekend away. It was a fitting end to a very good season fot Thurles U18 Boys, and for all involved to have such a great weekend. A special word of thanks to Aretians RFC in Bristol, and congratulations to Mr Ian "Muddy" Waters, on refereeing his 400th game of Rugby.

Thurles RFC Lotto 2th May 2016

This week's Lotto Numbers: 8, 9, 12, 18
No Jackpot Winner
Lucky Dips: Sonny Dwyer, Grace Quinlan, Aidan Dwyer
Next Jackpot: €4,100.00 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
· Ely's Centra
· Hickey's Pub
· Linnane's CarryOut
· Spar (Turtulla)
· 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!