Clubs & Schools Notes Week Ending 26.3.17

This week’s club notes come from Thurles RFC – with their Juniors, Women and U18s involved in semi-final action- and The Abbey CBS.

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Munster Junior League & Junior Plate: Thurles RFC 1st XV 34 – 12 Mallow RFC

Thurles welcomed Cork side Mallow to Loughtagalla on Sunday last in a fixture that doubled up as a Munster Junior League Fixture and the Semi Final of the Munster Junior Plate.

Thurles were missing a number of players that lined out against Presentation the week previous, most notably, prop forward, Dave Kelly who faces a lengthy spell on the sideline following a bad injury in the quarter final, we would like to wish Dave all the best on his road to recovery.

As the game kicked off, it was Thurles who started brightest, looking to attack Mallow at every attempt.  On the 10 minute mark the Thurles pressure told, following a great lineout from the forwards, Nicky Irwin played Shane Moloney through, who ran a great line that pierced through the Mallow defence to open the scoring, John Lillis added the extras: 7-0.

Following the Thurles try, Mallow had their own period of dominance but the Thurles defence was well matched for anything Mallow were able to throw at it.  Mallow did eventually get a score of their to level up matters following a harsh awarding of a penalty try: 7-7.

Thurles continued to put the pressure on in attack when in possession, another well worked lineout by Thurles saw the ball whipped out the backline where Moloney turned provider this time for Adrian Bourke who ran an excellent line, coming off his wing to add a second try for Thurles, Lillis added the extras: 14-7.

As the end of the half came closer, Mallow were doing well to hold onto possession which meant the Thurles attack had limited opportunities.  The Cork kept throwing the kitchen sink at Thurles and were eventually able to reduce the deficit once again, despite what looked like a knock on a he touched the ball down, the Mallow scrum half was awarded the try, with the conversion being missed: 14-12 at the half time break.

As the second half progressed, Thurles started to go through the gears, a penalty from the boot of Lillis increased the lead to 17-12 and shortly after Nicky Irwin provided an excellent pass against the grain, to send Aidan Dwyer through the cover, who in turn provided the off load to Ciaran Ryan who was arriving in support to touchdown out wide and increase Thurles’ lead further, 22-12.

Thurles added 2 more tries to complete a hard earned win against a tough, determined Mallow side, the first was following an excellent kick over the defence from Irwin, who got the luck of the bounce to re-claim his own kick and he set Ciaran Ryan away once again, who was the first man in support as he raced in over the line with Lillis splitting the posts with the convert.  Luke Kelly had the final say with a well deserved try of his own as he barged through the cover to leave the final score reading 34-12.

As well as a League Bonus point earned, Thurles also secured their place in their second Munster Final of the season, with passage now secured in the Munster Junior Plate, a competition they won in 2015.

Thurles will most likely take on neighbours, Nenagh Ormond in this decider this coming weekend, with venue and time to be confirmed.  Thurles also await a date for the re-fixed final of the Munster Junior Clubs Challenge Shield, Kinsale lay in wait in that decider.  There is also a League game outstanding but this fixture remains in doubt as it bears no effect to the League outcome.

Please keep an eye on our Facebook or Twitter Account for Fixture updates this week.  Training continues Wednesday & Friday at 7.30pm sharp for both First & Second XV.  The players & management would like to thank all those who showed up in force on Sunday to support the team, it was much appreciated.

Scorers: Ciaran Ryan (2 Tries), Shane Moloney, Adrian Bourke & Luke Kelly, (1 Try Each), John Lillis ( 1 Penalty, 3 Conversions).

Team vs. Mallow: 1.Charles Langley 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.Tommy Stevens 12.Shane Moloney 13. Eoghan O’Dwyer (c) 14. Adrian Bourke 15. John Lillis

Senior Women

The Senior Women suffered a rare defeat on Sunday high in the Wicklow mountains as Rathdrum Women’s RFC booked their place in the AIL Plate Final beating a strong Thurles Womens RFC side. The contest was somewhat favoured to the home side when the referee deemed the Thurles scrum “too strong” and he reverted to uncontested scrums, which in effect cancelled out the most effective part of the Thurles game plan.

The final score 22-0 to the Wicklow side . A try a piece from Heather Cullen and Patricia Byrne, with two tries from Player of the Day Caitlin Olohan! Best of luck to Rathdrum in the All Ireland Final and to Thurles in their Munster Final next weekend.

U18 Boys v Nenagh

U18 Munster Plate semi-final: Thurles 10 Nenagh 7

Thurles headed to Galbally for the semi final of the Munster Plate on Sunday morning which was to be a mammoth battle against old rivals Nenagh. Thurles with the wind in the first half enjoyed large spells in the Nenagh half before Nenagh gave away a penalty which Jack Flanagan put between the uprights. Not long after this Thurles had a scrum on halfway off which Thurles scored a well executed try with all the backs handling the ball before Nick Cooney scored under the posts. Jack Flanagan duly converted to make it 10 nil at the break.

In the second half Nenagh had large spells of dominance and the Thurles defence was breached with 20 minutes to go. Despite playing into a very strong wind coupled with relentless Nenagh pressure, Thurles held on for a great win. There were a few notable performances from Kieran Dunne, Conor O Hagan, James Leahy and Man of the Match Shane O Sullivan who gave a great defensive display on the day.

Well done boys all roads lead to Thomond Park on Sunday April 2nd for the final.

The Abbey CBS win O’Brien Cup – The Abbey CBS 24 Waterpark College 6

The Abbey won the Munster Schools Senior rugby U19 O Brien Cup on Wednesday last in Clanwilliam RFC. The drawn game was an intense battle that was played in Waterpark RFC and finished 7-7. Three tries in the first half of the replay set the platform for the Abbey victory. Waterpark did mount a comeback early in the second half with two quick penalties. This comeback was haunted  midway through the second half when, man of the match for the Tipperary men, David Byron broke through the Waterpark defense in the middle of the field. He was tackled just short of the line but Michael McCormack was on hand to finish off the move to secure the win.

Home advantage and the massive support on the day proved crucial for the Abbey who started much stronger than their opponents. The Tipperary men started very strong and were camped deep inside the Waterpark half for the opening ten minutes. The Waterford sides defense was eventually breached on fifteen minutes where captain Nathan Murphy Crowe crashed over for the first try.

The conversion was missed but it wasn’t long before the Abbey found themselves deep inside the opposition twenty two. Waterpark College  found it difficult to clear their lines as the Abbey won a number of scrum against the head thanks to a strong front row of Arnold O Dwyer, Adam Glasheen and Jack Quinlans. With all this possession and pressure it was only a matter of time before the Abbey scored again. In the twenty seventh minute Conor Leahy scored the Abbeys second try. Again the conversion was missed.

From the resulting kick off Waterpark enjoyed some good possession. Patrick Browne on the wing and Padraig Gannon were a threat all day with ball in hand. David Byron broke the hearts of the Waterford men on the stroke of halftime with a brilliant individual try after Rian Doody won a lineout against the throw. Ed Bourke  scored the conversion to make the score 17-0 at half time.

Waterpark started the second half much stronger. Much of the opening fifteen minutes of the second half were played deep inside the Abbey half. The Tipperary  mens defense was tested time and time again with strong runs from Noah Mellons and Sean Gannon. This sustained pressure saw the Waterford  men come away with two penalties through the boot of Ben Cummins leaving the score at 17-6. This was as good as it got for Waterpark  as the Abbey took over again and when a David Byron break was finished by Michael McCormack the game was all but over. Ed Bourke kicked the resulting conversion. A resilient Waterpark did have a few chances to score a try late on but the Abbey defense held the strong to clinch the victory.

It is the sixth O Brien Cup Final the Abbey have contested in as many years. After losing the last three, it is good to see the Abbey bounce back to winning ways. The Abbey U15s have also qualified for the quarter final of the Cleary Cup.

The Abbey CBS:

Forwards: Arnold O Dwyer, Adam Glasheen, Jack Quinlan, Donald Ryan, Rian Doody, Eoin Kelly, Cathal McNamara, Nathan Murphy  Crowe (Capt.)

Backs: Mark Costingan, David Byron, Conor Leahy, Michael McCormack, Ed Bourke, Alex Ryan Wynne, Conor Bradshaw

Subs: Brian Barlow, Timmy Corcoran, Daniel Kelly, Timmy Clarke, Ben Kingston, Aaron O Halloran, Colm O Rourke, Tony Byron, Andrew Vance,  Patrick Tynan, Kevin Mooney, Jack Hogan.

Waterpark College:

Forwards: Daniel Scanlon, Craig  Johnston, David White, Brian Sheridan, Sean Duggan, Shay White, Sean Gannon, Padraig Gannon.

Backs: Luke Cronin, Ben Commins, Patrick Browne, Gary Healey, David Reid, Cormack Collins, Noah Mellors.

Subs: Stephen Nolan, Luke Daly, Conor Glynn, Jesse Power, Daniel Maher.