Club Notes: Week Ending 09.10.16

5th October 2016 By Munster Rugby

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

Thurles RFC Notes
Courtesy of Brian Scanlon

Waterpark 15 – 7 Thurles RFC – Munster Junior League
The Thurles First XV made the trek to the Deise County on Sunday morning last to take on one of the new comers to the division in the shape of Waterpark, who were relegated last season from Division 1 of the Munster Junior League. Thurles were looking to follow up on their bonus point win the week previous week over Kinsale but travelled with a number of injury concerns, 3 players were ruled out completely & a further 4 only being passed fit to play before kick-off.

The opening quarter of the game started with both sides trading blow for blow as they attempted to settle and get a foothold in the game. Unfortunately for the Tipp men, it was Waterpark who opened the scoring following good play off the back of a line out, there was some doubt surrounding the try as it seemed the ball had been moved forward through the maul but the try was awarded & the extras added for the maximum, 7-0 to the home side.

Thurles player Luke Kelly soars high during the 15-7 loss to Waterpark on Sunday in the league

Thurles kept up the fight straight from the restart with Paddy Phelan reacting fastest to excellently claim the kick-off, this set the platform for a decent spell of attack, with Ger McCormack, Shane McHugh & Michael Ely coming close with different attempts at the line. Waterpark eventually turned over the ball and were able to clear their lines. Thurles kept the pressure on and a great kick from John Lillis in behind the home defence caused problems for the Waterpark full back, as he blatantly knocked the ball forward trying to retrieve the kick, both sides stopped momentarily waiting for the referee to award the scrum but it was not forthcoming, with that, the full back took off down the field, an excellent combined tackle from Nicky Irwin & Dean McCormack halted him in his tracks but with the momentum with the team going forward, the tracking Thurles defenders were unable to prevent Waterpark crossing for their second try of the game in the corner to increase the lead to 12-0 with conversion missed.

Waterpark added a penalty shortly before the halftime break to push the score out to 15-0 & make it a three score game. The second half kicked off & Thurles started to look more like the one we have become accustomed to over the past couple of years. Thurles came close to opening their account on a number of occasions with a forward pass to Dean McCormack preventing him from finishing from 30 yards with an open field ahead being the most notable missed opportunity.

Waterpark continued to ask questions of the Thurles defence, especially down the 10-12 channel where Aidan & Eoghan O'Dwyer were seeing a lot of the traffic but time and time again they were halted in their tracks and the ball turned over as soon as the ref called maul. Thurles were rewarded for their efforts following some great combination play from the backs & forwards, it was Peter Coman who crashed over on his return from injury to get Thurles on the board, John Lillis made the difficult conversion look easy as it sailed over the black spot for the full complement, 15-7.

Thurles once again continued to press in the final minutes but were unable to get close enough for a drop goal attempt to secure the losing bonus point, the game finished 15-7 to Waterpark in what was a hard fought game throughout. Thurles will take a lot of positives from Sunday's game despite leaving empty handed, a number of pre-season casualties were able to get some valuable game time under their belt as they continue their comeback and with a number of other key players yet to return to the fold from injury, Thurles will continue to build and get back on track.

Next up for Thurles is a home fixture against Limerick's Presentation RFC, this game is down for a 2.30pm Kick off at Loughtagalla this Sunday 9^th October, all support would be greatly appreciated for this important League Fixture. The Players & Management would like to thank all those who made the effort to travel to Waterpark on Sunday, it was great to see a strong travelling contingent.

Thurles Scorers: Peter Coman (1 Try), John Lillis (1 Conversion).
Thurles Starting XV vs Waterpark: 1. Ger McCormack 2. Shane Nugent 3. Michael Ely 4. Shane McHugh 5. Luke Kelly 6. Ciaran Ryan 7. Paddy Phelan 8. Joey Kelly 9. Nicky Irwin 10. Aidan Dwyer 11. Tommy Connolly 12. John Lillis 13. Eoghan O'Dwyer (c). 14. Dean McCormack 15. Tommy Stephens Subs Used: Dylan Dorney, Dave Kelly, Mark Cummins, Peter Coman & Larry O'Gorman.

Munster U18 Girls v Ulster.
Westmanstown, Dublin

Thurles RFC players Jane Ryan and Holly O'Dwyer pictured with Munster U18 teammates Dorethy Wall (Fethard RFC) and Katelyn Fleming (Cashel RFC) following the Interprovincial decider v Ulster at Westmanstown Sports Centre in Dublin on Saturday.

Thurles RFC's Jane Ryan in
lineout action for Munster v Ulster in Dublin on Saturday.

U14 Boys Thurles v Newport

Thurles and Newport U14 Boys Rugby Teams
The Thurles boys were coming into this game on the back of a defeat to Cashel last week. The nerves were there to be seen pre match but their captain Gavin Shorley told them to forget last Sunday and back what they had covered in training last week. Thurles got out of the block very fast with Ciaran Cormack who was very strong going over twice with both props John Shaw and Darragh Kelly adding to the tally. Defence yet again as in all games was huge led by the Shorley brothers Gavin and Jay backed up by Andrew O'Reilly, with Jay's counter rucking Newport just couldnt get going .
Movement seemed the order of the day with Ben Delaney, Ronan Carroll with conversions and Michael Connolly having a man of the match performance at full back. Thurles kept coming with scrum half TJ Carroll bossing the game at the breakdown and making darts at the blindside .
Newport got on the score card with two well worked tries in the last five minutes. All the Thurles subs played very well and are pushing hard for positions. Great game for all involved keep up the good work. Special thanks to Dan Troy on the fitness training.

Colm 'Teddy' Skehan transfers to Young Munster
The committee, management and players of Thurles RFC would like to wish former club captain Colm Skehan (right) all the very best in his rugby career as he transfers to AIL Senior Club, Young Munster. Colm has been a colossus at Thurles RFC since winning Young Player of the Year some time ago, and played a huge part in Munster (Juniors) Interprovincial success this year. Our loss is "The Cookies" gain. Best of luck buddy

Newcastle West RFC Notes
Courtesy of Martin O'Sullivan

Newcastle West 9-3 Galbally – Munster Junior League Division 1
Like someone had flipped a switch the cold set in on Sunday last for our first home outing of the season. Galbally travelled to the west with confidence but met a strong challenge from Newcastle West. On a blustery day free flowing, running rugby was at a premium and it was no surprise that it was a battle of the kickers decided the day. Michael O'Leary opened the scoring after 4 minutes with a well struck penalty. The game was mostly played between the 22's after that and it took until the 21st minute for Galbally to level with their own penalty having already missed one. Almost immediately Michael O'Leary punished the visitors' indiscipline again to make it 6-3. With the game heading towards half time our captain and leader Dave Foley suffered a serious injury. Play was held up for a long period while our physio and the emergency services tended to Dave. After the resumption the match was a tight, tense affair with both teams keeping their discipline. We perhaps made it difficult for ourselves by not converting a couple of golden try scoring opportunities but Sean Herlihy steadied the nerves with a brilliant long range penalty to make it 9-3. A couple of vital turnovers in the closing minutes meant there would be no last minute reprieve for Galbally this time and we held on for a vital home win.

While we are delighted to secure the points our thoughts are with Dave Foley and we wish the big man a very speedy recovery from his injury.

Scorers: Michael O'Leary 2 Penalties. Sean Herlihy 1 Penalty

Panel: Stephen Kelly, Cian Hinchy, Sean Neville, James Kelly, Sean Murphy, Tommy Kelleher, Michael O'Leary Declan Moloney, Keith Ryan, Alan O'Riordan, Gerald Griffin, Dave Foley, James Corbett, Gary O'Donnell, Kealan Headd, Eoin Sheridan Miller, Padraig Fogarty, Sean Herlihy, John Hartigan, Hayden Dillon

Fixture, Munster Junior League Division 1 – Sunday 9th October, Skibbereen v Newcastle West v @ 2.30pm in Skibbereen

Training for all Mini Rugby 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. Feel free to call up on Sunday morning for a cup of tea/coffee/hot chocolate and browse in our Club shop.

Lotto
Results from Friday 30th September Lotto Draw
Numbers Drawn 12,16,22,29 – NO WINNER

Lucky Dip Winners
DENIS NOONAN, ASSUMPTA PARK
LIAM MULCAHY C/O MAG MOTORS
DAVE AMBROSE C/O CENTRAL BAR
MICHAEL BARRETT, BALLINTUBBER, NCW
KARL LENIHAN C/O BALLYGOWAN
WILLIAM HOUGH, BALLINTUBBER, NCW
MICHELLE NORMOYLE C/O MAG MOTORS

Promotor's Prize TONY HAYES

Next week's draw will be in The Forge Inn on Friday 7th October The jackpot stands at €6,600.