Club Notes: Week Ending 25.07.16

This week’s Club Notes come from Thurles, Bruff, Newcastle West, Old Crescent and Listowel.

Click here for Thurles Club Notes.

Thurles RFC Notes

Thurles Women v UL Bohs
Thurles Womens' RFC get their season off to a flying start with an impressive 56 – 5 victory over UL Bohs 2nd XV at home on Saturday night. Thurles started well and were on the attack early in the game with some very impressive tries early in the first half to set them up comfortably. For much of the first half Thurles looked in a strong and commanding attacking position. When UL were in attack the Thurles defence looked solid and strong and prevented their opponents from breaching the try line. Tries from Laura Carroll, Ciara O'Dwyer and Aisling Byrne and a penalty from the boot of Megan Callanan gave Thurles a well deserved 18 – 0 lead at half time. UL's best chance of the half was skillfully dealt with by the Thurles defence and cleared off the boot of Aisling O'Hagan.

Megan Callanan and Jean Ryan were superb in attack from early in the second half. Their hard work was rewarded when Megan went in over the line for an expertly executed try which she converted with ease, despite the tight angle. Moments later it looked as though the in-form, Aisling O'Hagan was set for her opening score of the game after a superb solo run but she was caught yards from the line. A passage of set play followed which slowed the pace of the game but Thurles were patient in attack and Aisling O' Hagan breached their try line to score. The conversion was slotted over by Megan Callanan and Thurles now lead 32 – 0. Jean Ryan was next to score for the home side after a brief spell for Thurles in defence, where Ciara O'Dwyer put in some wonderful tackles. Maria Whelan stormed past the UL defence after a perfectly timed passed from Miriam Harrison to increase the Thurles lead after a successful conversion to 44 -0. UL hit the score board moments later with a try in the corner, the tight angle preventing a successful conversion. Ciara O' Dwyer broke the line from a superb run to increase the Thurles tally and with Megan Callanan dutifully slotting over the conversion attempt Thurles had a commanding 51 – 5 lead. The final try of the night, scored by Aisling O'Hagan, was a wonderful team try that showed the strength and determination of the Thurles squad. The game finished 56 – 5 in favour of Thurles.

Many thanks to the large crowd that came out to support the women in a thrilling game Massive congratulations to Maria Woodlock and Jean Ryan who have both been called up to the Munster Women's squad.

The Thurles RFC U16 Boys lost by 1 score in the Plane final of The Adam Burke Tournament to a very strong Clanwilliam team.

Thurles U14 Boys v Kilfeacle
Thurles welcomed Kilfeacle u14s on Sunday to Loughtagalla to play in a pre-season friendly .
On a wet morning one couldn't have anticipated the free flowing rugby that took place . Both teams were up for getting the ball on the move at a very quick pace .

Thurles settled first with the fast moving prop John Shaw going over the line , Thurles' second try came from our number 8 Ciaran McCormack who had been released by our 9 TJ Carroll from an offload in the tackle . Kilfeacle came back with a well worked try from a level headed 10 who caused all sorts of trouble for the Thuirles defence throughout the game . On the flip side our number 12 Ormond Schoeman gave Kilfeacle no rest with two lightning scores . Kilfeacle had a purple patch in the late in the second half when their rucking on the Thurles line got their no 9 over despite some dogged defence by captain Gavin Shorley , Jay Shorley and Andrew O'Reilly .

The game was finished off by Thurles full back, Michael Connolly who crossed over the line from a miss kicked ball from Kilfeacle from his own ten metre line .
It was great to see all the bench being used to good affect with all players contributing to the win .
Great team effort by all keep up the good work .

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

Thurles RFC Lotto 19th September 2016
Thurles RFC Lotto 19th September 2016
Lotto Numbers: 9, 10, 21, 22
No Jackpot Winner
Lucky Dips: Michael Sheehan, Ciaran Lynch, John O' Gorman, Billy Ryan
Next Jackpot: €6,200.00
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

Bruff RFC Notes

Seniors Vs Boyne
The seniors got their UBL campaign underway on Saturday with an away trip to Boyne. Bruff won the corresponding fixture 15-23 last season and were hoping to repeat last year's exploits again on Saturday.
Bruff had already played two competitive fixtures this season losing 14.3 to Shannon in the Charity cup and 42.24 away to UCC in the Munster senior cup.

Bruff started slow and were down 5 nil after seven minute conceding from a set move off the back of the Boyne Scrum. Bruff's response was immediate scoring a converted try just five minutes later with Cillian Rea getting the touch down after a clean line break from the middle of the field. Bruff were forced to defend for the next fifteen minutes and were fortunate not to concede on a number of occasions. But it Bruff who would strike next scoring an excellent individual try from Mark Cosgrove.

The flying winger showed some great footballing skills to twice chip over the Boyne defence before dotting the ball down for his first try of the season. The home side bounced back and managed to score just on the stroke of half time to leave it 12-10 to Bruff at the break.
Bruff opened the second half strongest but were sucker punched after fifteen minutes when Boyne broke from their own half to score a break-away try from deep. The conversion was added and Bruff now trailed 12-17.

Again Bruff responded well and came up with another try on seventy minutes after some good forward play in the home sides 22. Hooker John Hogan broke from the back of a maul to score his second try in as many games. David O Grady kicked his second conversion of the day to make it 19-17 to Bruff. Unfortunately the lead was short lived and Boyne added another converted try with only a few minutes remaining to win on a score line of 19-24.

Bruff Team: 1.Dave Horan 2.Johnny Hogan 3. Brendan Keogh 4.Sean Hartigan 5.Neilus Keogh 6.Cillian Rea 7.Mikey Cooke 8.Paddy Clery 9.Davy O Grady 10.Tony Cahill 11. Mark Cosgrove 12. Eric Finn 13. Jack O Grady 14.Kevin McManus 15. Barry Enright 16. Keith Laffan 17. Timothy Quirke 18. Tom O Brien 19 Tadgh O Dwyer 20 Shane Doona

Next Game:
Midleton are the visitors to Kilballyowen this weekend for round 2 of the UBL. The East Cork team hit the ground running last weekend recording a 30-9 opening day victory over Kanturk. Kick- off is 2.30pm in Bruff and all support would be welcomed for this first home game of the league.

Bruff Players in Action with Munster.
Last weekend say the concluding rounds of the Youths interpros. There were a number of Bruff players in action with Munster with mixed results for the teams involved. The Munster U19's were in action in Anglesea Road on Saturday afternoon where they were beaten 20-9 in a title decider. Liam Barrett and Ordhan Ring started for Munster with both players giving good accounts of themselves' s on the day.

The Munster U18 Clubs side were also in action on Saturday winning the Interprovincial title for the first time in 13 years. Bruff's Fionn Flanagan was at tight head Prop for the decider against Connaught which saw Munster win out 35-17.

Congrats to all players involved, we look forward to seeing you all back in Kilballyowen this week.

Underage:
Reminder that the underage rugby season is now back in full flow. Mini Rugby (u7's to u12's) training is at 10.30am on Sunday mornings with youths training from 11.35am and it's still not too late to join. If you or someone you know is interested in playing please make contact with any of the coaches or committee members listed on the Bruff RFC website.

Newcastle West Notes

Munster Junior League Division 1
Our opening league fixture for 2016/2017 is on Sunday next, Sept 25th when we travel to Cork to take on Muskerry. Always a tough away day outing but the lads will want to open the league campaign with a strong showing. Kickoff in Muskerry is at 2.30pm Fixture, Munster Junior League Division 1 – Sunday 25th September, Muskerry v Newcastle West @ 2.30pm in Muskerry

Transfield Cup Shannon – 14 Newcastle West – 10
We took on Shannon in Coonagh on Monday night in the semi-final of the Transfield Cup. On a perfect night for rugby it was a thoroughly entertaining game. Both teams contributed to a feisty affair where the exchanges were tough. It took 25 minutes to open the scoring when a typically barrelling try from James Kelly, after good work off a lineout, and a Sean Neville conversion made it 7-0 to the travelling side. Shannon hit back with a penalty almost immediately to close the gap to 4 points and the scores stayed like that giving NCW a 7-3 lead at half-time.

Shannon noticeably upped the intensity in the opening minutes of the second half and got over the visitors line on 51 minutes to lead 8-7. Newcastle West then took control again with a Sean Neville penalty on 62 minutes to make it 10-8. From there on both teams played some great rugby with both teams playing to win rather than not to lose. In a fraught and tense last 10 minutes Shannon struck two penalties to lead 14-10 going into injury time. Newcastle West never gave up and were unlucky not to score a try from an attacking scrum on the Shannon line but the hosts cleared and a knock on finished the game.

Overall a great performance from the Newcastle West lads with what was a somewhat inexperienced team. The Cup dream over for another season.

Panel. Sean Ivess, James Kelly, Stephen Kelly, Cian Hinchy, Eoin Sheridan Miller, Sean Neville, Darren Normoyle, Shane Magner, Sean Corbett, Geraoid Pierce, Dave Foley, Padraig Fogarty, Gary O'Donnell, James Corbett, Kealan Headd, Keith Ryan, Alan O'Riordan, Richard Langford, sean McAuliffe, Shaun Berkery.

Training
Training continues every Tuesday and Friday night in Killeline @ 7pm

Good Start to the Season for the U15s
Newcastle West/Estuary – 62 Richmond – 0 On what was a drizzly morning in Cullinagh, our U15s hosted Richmond in what was our first outing of the new season. We were still a few players light due to GAA commitments but to a man, every player gave it their all. We got off to a poor start by failing to claim the kickoff cleanly but a strong scrum and solid defence forced a turnover. Shane McShera carried the ball and shrugged off 5 would-be tacklers but was stopped just short of the line.

Bobby Donovan was on the follow up to go over the line to claim the first score of the season. Aaron Heffernan added the extras to give us an early lead. Straight from the kick off, strong running from Sean McMahon, Eouenn Ferron and an exquisite offload form David Walsh helped Eddie Murphy to place the ball under the posts. Further tries from David Walsh and Jack Corkery left the half time score, 24-0.

We picked up from where we left off after the break. David Walsh added his second while Shane McShera and Sean McMahon also got their names on the score sheet. But it was Jack Corkery who scored the majority of the scores when he crossed the line for his second, third and fourth tries of the day. Along with Aaron's kicks the final score was 62-0. Man of the match was Jack Corkery while Cormac Browne, Andy O'Doherty and Oliver Flanagan also played well. Our next game is in two weeks' time away to Garryowen.

Training continues every Tuesday and Thursday night at 7:30 in Killeline. Panel: Shane McShera, Cormac Browne, David Walsh, Eouenn Ferron, Bobby Donovan, Chris O'Riordan, Darragh Lyons, Jack Corkery(c), Andy O'Doherty, Aaron Heffernan, Cormac Lyons, Eddie Murphy, Sean McMahon, Oliver Flanagan, Jack Kiely and Jack McCarthy.

Mini fixtures
Mini blitzes are now beginning with first Blitz for U12s this weekend. All other minis Training is each Sunday in Kilelline 10:30 am to 11:30am Youth fixtures for next weekend 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.

Lotto Results from Friday 16th September
Lotto Draw Numbers Drawn 13, 14, 15, 18 – NO WINNER Lucky Dip Winners JOHN HENNESSY, KNOCKADERRY SEAN CAHILL C/O DAVE CREMIN PADRAIG FOGARTY C/O TONY HAYES MARY RYAN C/O PAT RYAN MARK KELLY C/O PAT BOURKE MARGARET WRIGHT C/O TONY HAYES FINBARR MADDEN C/O BARRY MADDEN Promotors Prize LIAM O'CONNOR Next week's draw will be in Ned Lynch's Bar on Friday 23rd September. The jackpot stands at €6,200

Old Crescent RFC Notes

Old Crescent awards Honorary Life Membership to Eoin Reddan in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Irish Rugby.

At a ceremony in the Old Crescent Clubhouse, held before the opening Ulster Bank League game against Greystones, Pat Monaghan, President of Old Crescent RFC, presented a plaque to Eoin Reddan to mark the award of Honorary Life Membership of Old Crescent RFC in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Irish Rugby over his amateur and professional career.

The award of Honorary Life Membership of Old Crescent RFC is a rare honour; only two other Honorary Life Memberships have been awarded since the foundation of the club in 1947. Members were therefore delighted that the two other recipients, Louis Nestor and Jim Roche, were in attendance for the award to Eoin.

Presenting the award to Eoin, President Pat Monaghan said "it was a privilege to present this award on behalf of Old Crescent RFC to Eoin who reached the pinnacle of modern rugby but never forgot his roots and his association with Old Crescent"

"Old Crescent members have taken great pride in Eoin's achievements and in his continued references to Old Crescent as the source of his nurturing into rugby. He has been a credit to his family and to the game of rugby, and Old Crescent members have always been proud to call him one of ours"

President Pat Monaghan also thanked Eoin Reddan for his gift to Old Crescent of his Rugby World Cup 2015 Irish jersey signed by all the Irish team.

Pictured at the award ceremony were, l-r, Tim Duggan, Senior Vice President, Louis Nestor, Jim Roche, and Eoin Reddan, Honorary Life Members, and Pat Monaghan, President, Old Crescent RFC.

Listowel RFC Notes

6 Players on the Munster Squad
We had a historical day in Ballincollig RFC, Munster U18 women youth team lined out in the 1st round of the interprovincial series. Munster visitors were Connaught, on sun kissed pitch watched on by friends, teammates, coaches and families, who all have been with these girls from the start of their relatively short rugby careers and seen these girls have a sharp rise to the top of Munster's best players. Listowel had the highest representative of players in the squad, Hayley Betts, Ashling Brosnan (Tralee Rfc) , Dearbhla Canty, Caoilann Healy, Ciara Shine, Muirne Wall.

The game kicked off at a ferocious pace with Munster getting early dominance in the scrum, this led to early pressure from the girls in red trying to break over the try line but Connaught were being determined in not allowing that to happen. But after a back line move in the 12th min it was Ashling Brosnan who looked liked a girl who has great confidence with the ball in hand, found a weak shoulder straighten up and backed herself to cross the try line. This was greeted by loud cheers from her club mates and family.

With Caoilann Healy at No.8 she made great yards at the back of the scrum, Caoilann is a determined player it showed on Saturday that she took this opportunity and relished in the games physicality. Hayley Betts is fabulous prospect her technique at scrum time in the loose head was sublime she keep to her routine at contact time against her opposite Connaught tight head. Hayley also showed that she can break a tight defense with her superb try in the second half. Dearhla Canty showed a controlled physicality to her game which she has worked on and this has been a great asset to her team with great rucking and ball carrying.

Dearbhla has been playing rugby since she was very young and had for a while no girls team when she was younger. It very satisfying for Listowel Rfc to give her opportunity to play club rugby and to play rugby at the top table. Muirne Wall played at scrum half which she had to adapt too but did with ease. Her passing to the out half was crisp and clean, this experience of playing no.9 will only help and appreciate her rugby education. Ciara Shine waited for her time on the replacement bench to come on with 10mins to go, she went in at loose head and was naturally ready to take on what was thrown at her which she comfortably dealt with this test. She is a quick learner and with her proud parents in attendance she did everyone proud.

On behalf the girls section, first I want to thank the coaches who give up there free time to help bring on and develop great rugby player to achieve there goals and parents who travel long distances for practice and games.
Massive thanks to the committee and our club president current and previous who since day one have given full backing and support in everything the girls team require and which is important. Which is reason for this success.