Club Notes: Week Ending 14.09.14

This week’s club notes come from Waterford City RFC and Shannon RFC.

Waterford City RFC

Senior XV

Cashel 24-3 Waterford City – 7^th Sept 2014

With perfect conditions for rugby on Sunday, Waterford City took on Cashel in the Manseragh Cup in Tipperary.

It was the second game of pre-season for the senior team, despite working hard for the full eighty minutes the team made too many mistakes to beat a solid Cashel side.

The home team shaded territory and possession in the first half but both defenses were on top for the majority of the half.

There was just a penalty in it to Cashel until they crossed the City line with the last play of the first half to take a ten point lead.

A poor kick from the away side put them under unnecessary pressure, a soft penalty which followed combined with quick thinking from Cashel gave them an easy score just on the stroke of half time.

The second half continued in the same fashion as the first and despite City dominating at scrum time, the line-out continued to malfunction.

Another poor clearance kick from City on fifty minutes allowed Cashel to counter attack and they were clinical when the opportunity arose, the home team converted to make it 17-0.

City responded well though and won a penalty shortly after, Darren Walsh who had kicked superbly all game, made the 30 metre penalty look easy to get the Waterford team on the score sheet.

The best spell of the game for City followed and Aaron Whelan and Michael Hayes made great line breaks when City began to play a more expansive game, neither break led to a try however and Cashel were next to score with a third converted try after moving the ball wide and chipping in behind the defense.

City were wasteful with the last couple of plays of the match when they had their best opportunities to cross the opposition line.

Kevin Whelan and Tom Bowe had great games for City, both making a huge amount of tackles and carries with Tom getting the nod as Waterford City man of the match.

The team will look to keep improving ahead of the first league game in three weeks.

Shannon RFC

Courtesy of:- Siofra Scanlon, Club PRO

Well done and congratulations to all our Shannon Teams who, over last weekend won all their matches. This week sees the Senior XV back in action as the first AIL game of the season kicks off with what will be a great local derby in Dooradoyle tonight.

Fixtures for this week are as follow:

Seniors ~ AIL ~ Garryowen V Shannon, Today, 7.30pm, Dooradoyle, Limerick

3rds ~ McInerney Cup ~ Shannon V St Senans, Saturday 13th September, 2.30pm, Coonagh, Limerick

Remember If you cannot come to the matches we would ask that you come out and support any of our upcoming events. All details can be found at www.shannonrfc.com

Events & News

This Week Is Suicide Awareness Week

As well as being PRO for the rugby club I am also the Mind Your Buddy point of Contact for Pieta House for the rugby season 2014/2015.

Most of you may not be aware but the rate of Suicide, especially in Men and young adults has unfortunately risen significantly in the last few years. I think we can safely say that we all have someone that we know or know of that has been effected by the issue of Suicide.

The Mind Your Buddy initiative is a suicide prevention and intervention strategy delivered by qualified and experienced Pieta House Therapists. It equips the Buddy Supports with the skills to identify changes in their colleagues behavior and potentially save a life. As a Buddy Support Person ( BSP) I will have direct links with the designated Pieta therapist for referrals as well as on-going support and advice. I have been trained by Pieta House and selected by the club as a “Go to person “.

I am not a trained or qualified counselor, however if anyone wishes to contact me they will be treated with absolute 100% confidentiality and respect. There will be posters with my contact details placed around the club for the upcoming season.

There seems to still be somewhat of an awkwardness around this subject. Breaking the silence and talking are the first steps to awareness and prevention.

All my contact details and Pieta House contact details are as follows:

Siofra Scanlan – Mind Your Buddy Point of Contact For Shannon RFC
086- 3018993 – siofrascanlan@gmail.com

Pieta House Midwest
Ardaulin
Mungret
Limerick
Phone: 061-484444
Centre Manager: Nora Conway

Opening Hours:
Monday, Wednesday & Friday: 9am to 5pm
Tuesday and Thursday: 9am to 8pm
Saturday: 10am to 2pm

Volunteers Always Needed
All at Shannon RFC would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who helped out at the club in 2013. It is much appreciated. We are currently looking for people to help out with upcoming fundrasing events. If you are a student doing a course in the media/ marketing sectors or English, retired, unemployed or would like to donate your free time we would urge you to support your Club and Volunteer. It is a great opportunity to develop your current skills and always looks great on a C.V. If you would like to volunteer in the club during 2014 please contact any committee member. All details can be found on our website here.

SHANNON RFC APP
Please feel free to share the link with anyone who may be interested. We would love some feedback from all of you who are following us on the app so feel free to email me directly at siofrascanlan@gmail.com
If you still have not downloaded yet the link is here.

Get Your Name Out There On Our Website
Do you want to get your company name more widely known? Are you a tradesman looking to advertise at a reduced rate? Why not advertise with Shannon RFC. We are currently in the process of setting up a Shannon RFC Tradesperson's page on our website. This will be a one stop contact page for all kind of trades and businesses. We urge any member, supporters or local business to get involved. It is a great way to advertise at a fraction of normal rates. The cost for an advertisement is €;50. Anyone who wishes to place an ad or would like more information please contact Siofra on 0863018993 or email siofrascanlan@gmail.com

A Great Gift for All
Why not give someone near or far the gift of a Shannon RFC membership. A great gift for any occasion with the added bonus of supporting your local club. Packages, including family membership, are available. Should you wish to find out more information or purchase membership please contact Tom Hackett at honsec@shannonrfc.com

PLEASE DRIVE CAREFULLY THROUGH COONAGH
We would ask everyone to please take care, slow down and observe the speed limit through Coonagh Village on the way to and from the matches and training.

YOUR CLUB, YOUR THOUGHTS
We always like to hear from our members near and far. If you have a story, any interesting historical information or an article about the club that you would like to share we would love to hear it. Any submissions for consideration can be sent to siofrascanlan@gmail.com

Underage Training and Fixtures Sunday 14th September
Well done to all who helped out with open day last Sunday.

Minis
10.00am
U6/7/8/9 Top Pitch..
U11,U12 Dublin, Blackrock Festival

Youths
10.30am
U13 Blacks (Development League) "Well Field"
11.30 am
U13 Blues
(Development League)
" Well Field"

11.00am
U15 Training

11.30am
U14 League v Young Munster "Top Pitch"

U18 Training Training Pitch

Friday 12th @ 7.30pm
AIL V Garryowen Dooradoyle

Come along and support our senior team.


Thought Of The Week
"If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges."