Club Notes Week Ending 2.4.17

29th March 2017 By The Editor

Thurles RFC Juniors pose with the Munster Junior Plate they won against Nenagh Ormond - Thurles RFC

Club notes this week come from newly crowned Munster Junior plate winners Thurles RFC, Newcastle West RFC, and Old Crescent, who begin the second phase of their Land Purchase Fundraising initiative.

Old Crescent launches Phase 2 of Land Purchase Fundraising
Courtesy of Frank Larkin

Having completed the purchase of 11 acres of additional land adjoining the club grounds at Rosbrien last year, Old Crescent RFC has now launched Phase 2 of its Land Purchase Fundraising. The land purchase was completed following the very successful first Phase of fundraising last year, without interfering with normal club activities or fundraising.

The aim of the Phase 2 fundraising is to repay an IRFU loan that part funded the purchase which will enable the club to pass on the enlarged club grounds at Rosbrien to future generations debt free.

A new 4th pitch was laid out and developed, and the 3rd pitch and training area levelled and re-laid, on the new land last year. The new pitches will be ready for tag rugby this summer and regular rugby next season.

The land purchase has been approved for tax relief on donations by the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport, which means that all donations to the project are allowable for tax.

Old Crescent RFC sincerely thanks all who have contributed to the land purchase to date. To those who have yet to contribute – we need you now!

We appreciate Old Crescent members and supporters have many financial pressures but we earnestly appeal for support for this vital project. Please contact Ger McNamara, 087 2760702, Chairman, Land Purchase Fundraising Committee, for further information.

Thurles RFC
Courtesy of Brian Scanlon

Munster Junior Plate Final: Thurles RFC 21 – 5 Nenagh Ormond RFC

A toss of a coin saw Thurles win home advantage in the Final of the Munster Junior Plate as they welcomed near neighbors Nenagh Ormond to a sun kissed Loughtagalla on Sunday last for what was a perfect day for rugby.

Nenagh kicked off the game but it was Thurles who started brightest with the backline piercing holes in the Nenagh defence and looked dangerous anytime they had possession.

The early Thurles pressure was rewarded with an excellently struck penalty through the boot of John Lillis to open the scoring: 3-0. Thurles continued to cause Nenagh trouble when they started running at them and on the 15 minute mark, following great interplay between the forwards & backs, Adrian Bourke finished off in the corner for the first try of the day: 8-0.

Thurles were motoring well half way through the first half, the front row of Ger McCormack, Shane Nugent & Michael Ely were providing a great platform for attack in the scrums, as Thurles continued to create chances, a number of which went astray as Nenagh’s last minute scramble defense saved them from further agony.

As the first half drew to close there was no further scores to be noted, Thurles were well on top but were struggling to put distance between the sides which would have given Nenagh a glimmer of hope as they re-grouped at the break.

Thurles kicked off the second half and went on the hunt for possession again. Paddy Phelan & Luke Kelly were causing Nenagh trouble in the lineouts all day, forcing the opposition to overthrow or miss his targets on a number of occasions with Mark Cummins tidying up at the back more than once adding to the mountain of work he was getting through around the field.

Thurles turned over possession from another lineout and broke cover with Peter Coman racing down the wing, Thurles supported in number but an infringment from a Nenagh player saw the homeside awarded a penalty, Aidan Dwyer did the honours as he split the posts to increase their lead to 11-0.

Following this score Nenagh finally got their long awaited purple patch as they took control of possession for a 10-15 minute period, Thurles put in great work in defence with the centre partnership of Shane Moloney & Eoghan O’Dwyer proving almost unbreakable once again, Phil Kelly, Ciaran Ryan & Cummins were putting in great work around the fringes but the Nenagh patience prevailed as they were rewarded with a try from their centre who somehow managed to touchdown despite being swarmed by Thurles players, 11-5.

Thurles put the pressure back on from the restart and started to go through the gears again as Nicky Irwin bossed his pack up field. Thurles were pressing the Nenagh line once again and with a penalty in waiting, Aidan Dwyer took the initiative to slot over a drop goal and put two scores between the sides, much to the delighted of the large crowd in attendance: 14-5.

As the game neared an end Nenagh had no luck in trying to break down the home defense as Thurles continued to turn the screw again, they forced a turnover and were awarded with a scrum just inside the 22.

The scrum didn’t go exactly to plan, the ball shot out but Number 8, Ciaran Ryan reacted excellently to gather the ball, Ryan ran at the Ormond defense, provided a switch pass back inside to Aidan Dwyer who was coming at speed and broke through the Nenagh cover, Dwyer was stopped just short of the line but was able to pop the ball up to the oncoming Paddy Phelan in support who raced in under the posts to put more gloss on the scoreboard which did not flatter Thurles, Lillis added the extras to bring an end to the scoring: 21-5.

Minutes later, the referee drew a close to proceedings which brought huge applause and roars from the Loughtagalla crowd and secured Thurles with a record 5th Munster Junior Title and their second in 3 years.

This was a great performance from Thurles over a well drilled Nenagh Ormond side and a great reward to see Captain Eoghan O’Dwyer lift the cup on behalf of his teammates & the management team of Shay Scanlon, Kevin O’Dwyer & John Lillis.

The Thurles First XV still have another Final to look forward to with Kinsale lying in wait in the Munster Junior Clubs Challenge Shield decider which is due to be played Sunday week with the venue yet to be decided.

The players & management would like to thank the huge crowd that turned up to support the side on Sunday, it was greatly appreciated and provided a great lift during the game.

Scorers: Adrian Bourke & Paddy Phelan (1 Try Each), John Lillis (1 Conversion & 1 Penalty), Aidan Dwyer (1 Penalty & 1 Drop Goal).

Team vs. Nenagh: 1.Ger McCormack 2.Shane Nugent 3.Michael Ely 4.Luke Kelly 5.Phil Kelly 6.Mark Cummins 7.Paddy Phelan 8.Ciaran Ryan 9.Nicky Irwin 10.Aidan Dwyer 11.Peter Coman 12.Shane Moloney 13. Eoghan O’Dwyer (c) 14. Adrian Bourke 15. John Lillis

U16 Boys

Thurles U16 Rugby – well done to all 17 players on a hard fought win on Sunday . No cup won but we haven’t won in 3 years and 6 games in Fethard. This team took a hiding there two years ago at U14 so definitely great progress. Great character. At least one more cup game left and it should be a home semi-final.

Newcastle West RFC
Courtesy of Martin O’Sullivan

Munster Junior League Div 1

We wrapped up the league campaign with an unusual Friday night fixture in Kilfeacle. The trip was necessary after the initial fixture fell foul of the early March deluge. On a dramatic night the game finished 13-13 and secured 2^nd place in the table for Newcastle West. That gives us entry into the All Ireland Cup next season and those occasions have proved to be excellent in the past seasons. Seam Herlihy was the hero on the night with a converted try and 2 penalties.

We’d like to thank our supporters for a great season of support, travelling far and wide to support the team. Looking forward to seeing you all again come September.

Diary dates

There are some important dates coming up for the club over the next few weeks.

Sat April 1^St – The U16’s host a touring team, Highlands Buzzards from Ohio, USA @ 11am in Killeline grounds.

Junior Interprovincial, Munster v Leinster and RugbyFest Weekend

We are delighted to be hosting our first RugbyFest weekend on Saturday & Sunday 6/7^th May. Munster will take on Leinster in the Junior interprovincial championship on Saturday May 6^th at 2.30pm. We then host a family fun day on Sunday May 7^th in Killeline from 12 to 4pm. A massive day of ruby fin and games is planned including, a tag rugby tournament, penalty kick games, Live music, barbeque, bouncy castles, sumo suits. It promises to be a great day for all the family so mark the date and bring all the family along to the finale of our RugbyFest Weekend.

U15’s

Hard Earned Win Leads into Final Week

Newcastle West/Estuary 37

Bruff 12

On Sunday morning we played host to Bruff in Cullinagh. It was a perfect day for rugby, with the sun splitting the rocks and no a breath of wind in the air. This was the second time the teams have played this year and the seventh over the last 3 seasons, so both teams know each other very well. It was our first game since returning from a very successful tour to Chester, so there was bound to be some cobwebs that needed to be blown off and so it came to pass. Despite this we opened the scoring when captain Jack Corkery picked and went off the base of a scrum. He outpaced the winger to touch down in the corner. Aaron Heffernan’s conversion fell just short. While both our attacking and defensive structure was good, it was our transition between the two that hurt us in the first half. After conceding a penalty, Bruff pinned us back on our own 5 meter line. We managed to spoil their lineout, but Bruff reacted quicker and collected the ball to get their first score of the day. From the kick off, we put Bruff under pressure with a great chase from Mike Cremin. We continued to push them back until we had a scrum 5 meters out from the try line. Jack Corkery once again picked but this time with the defence biting in on him, he gave an offload to Jack Duggan, who beat 2 defenders coming across to get his name on the score sheet. When it looked like we were going to go in to the break in the lead, mistakes in our exits cost us a try on the stroke of half time, to leave to game 12-10 to the visitors at the break.

We came out in the second half a different team altogether, with Sean McMahon really coming to the fore. His breaks really took the pressure off our defence and within 10 minutes of the restart he had 2 tries. After the second of his tries, Bruff kicked off. The ball was fielded by Jack Corkery, who ran around the entire opposition to touch down underneath the posts. The bench really added something in the second half with Andy O’Doherty and Oliver Flanagan really impressing on the wings. They chased down everything and carried with aggression. Jason Corbett also came off the bench to make his debut. He showed some very good moments in what was an impressive first outing. Cormac Lyons exploded off the bench to join his brother in the back row. Both Cormac and Darragh, who was the leading tackler on the day, were like the bash brothers, letting nothing pass them from around the ruck or scrums. With the renewed vigour that the subs brought to us we were able to get over for one more try with David Walsh bundling over in the corner. Then with the last play of the game, Aaron Heffernan dropped a goal to put the icing on top of what was an impressive performance.

Our attention now turns to next Sunday when we play Kilrush in the Conference Final. The game is to be played at Fitzgerald Park, home of Thomond RFC, at 11:45am. Any and all support would be greatly appreciated

Panel: Andrew Mortell, Jack Duggan, Sean McMahon, Eddie Murphy, Kevin O’Connell, Aaron Heffernan, Ruadhan O’Connor, Jack Corkery, Mike Cremin, Darragh Lyons, Chris O’Riordan, Jack Kiely, David Walsh, Cormac Browne, Bryan Mortell, Jason Corbett, Cormac Lyons, Andy O’Doherty, Oliver Flanagan

Next Fixture: U15 Conference Final versus Kilrush.

KO: 11:45

Venue: Fitzgerald Park (Thomond RFC)

Lotto

Results from Friday 17^th March Lotto Draw

Numbers Drawn 2, 10, 16, 21 – NO WINNER

JOHN CUSSEN, NORTH QUAY, NCW

ANN MURPHY, CULLINAGH, NCW

DARRAGH ROWSOME , MONAGEA

DAVID MCCOY, GORTBOY, NCW

MICHELLE & DES NORMOYLE, NCW

BRENDAN HOUGH, DUALLY, NCW