News from around the Clubs 16/9

CLUB NEWS –

SHANNON Shannon advance with ease Clonakilty 10 Shannon 47 After suffering defeat at the hands of Young Munster in the Limerick Charity Cup in their previous outing, Shannon were looking to respond positively when they travelled to Shannon vale to play Clonakilty in the Munster senior cup. And if 47 points to 10 victory is considered positive, than Shannon can consider it a job well done in the glorious autumnal sunshine in the west Cork town. The similarities with Shannon’s last visit to Shannonvale exactly two years ago are remarkable including the weather, but they just failed to match the 53-10 scoreline of that day. Perhaps if the maintained the same pace in last Saturdays second half as they did in the opening 40 minutes they would surely have surpassed the 50 point mark and beyond. By the time the sides turned around from the break, Clonakilty were chasing a 30 point deficit and never really posed Shannon any major difficulties. Whilst they did cross the Shannon line in the 58th minute it was nothing more than a slight morale boost to a side with plenty of courage but little convection. The fact that just four minutes later Marcus O’Driscoll crossed for his second and Shannon’s sixth try tells the tale of Shannon’s complete control and ability to wind up the pace when necessary. The intensity that Shannon lacked against Young Munster was there in abundance, albeit against a far more limited team, especially in the opening half when they seemed to have the ability to score at will. After just 7 minutes John O’Connor raced over for a try after Prop Les Hogan sold and outrageous dummy to confound the defence and from there it was pretty much all one way traffic. Tadgh Bennett spotted a gap in the 17th minute and glided through, but the result was certainly put well beyond doubt in a devastating 10 minute spell just prior to the break. Clonakilty did get on the score sheet with a penalty in the 27th minute, but the three quick tries from Mossy Lawlor, Marcus O’Driscoll and Eoghan Grace saw the gap stretch to the point of no return for the home side. Perhaps the only area of concern for Shannon came at the breakdown where the referee seemed to be apply a different interpretation of the new laws to that which Shannon were working under. An inordinate penalty count against them in the second half saw Fergal Walsh sent for a 10 minute break and it was during this time that Clonakilty scored their try. David Quinlan rounded off Shannon’s scoring when he took a quick tap in the 67th minute and safe passage to the next round was secured with ease. Shannon had three senior cup debutants in Leonard O’Sullivan and believe it or not two Rob Guerins both U/21 players and all three acquainted themselves very well so all in all it was a more than satisfying day for Colm tucker and his management. By virtue of their win over Garryowen, Dolphin have home advantage over Shannon next weekend on a day to be confirmed early in the week. Shannon D. O’Donovan, R. Guerin, M.O’Driscoll, M. Lawlor, S. Kelly, T.Bennett, R.Guerin.(F.McNamara)L. Hogan(K.O’Neill), B.Duggan(J.Cronin), G.McNamara, L. O’Sullivan (F.Broderick) , J. O’Connor(N.O’Brien), E. Grace, D. Quinlan. KILFEACLE & DISTRICT Kilfeacle and District R.F.C. lose against Clonmel R.F.C. in the Semi Final of the Garryowen Cup. Kilfeacle and District R.F.C. 6 Clonmel R.F.C. 23 After an excellent performance and result against Thurles in the previous round, Kilfeacle and District RFC were drawn away against Clonmel RFC in the Semi Final of the Garryowen Cup. Although our form in this cup has been showing positive signs, everyone, from players, selectors, coaches and supporters, knew that if we were to take something from this game we would have to perform to the best of our ability as a team. When you are at this stage of the season it is very hard to guage what level a team is playing at, it takes games under your belt to do this so basically with only one competitive game played one hoped that all the training had paid off and the team would perform well. To perform well a team needs to get all the basics right as this is the foundation of keeping the ball and controling the game and alas on Sunday 13th of September, for numerous reasons our ball retention was poor and because of this and a very good opposition we suffered badly and alas didn’t achieve the desired result. Against Clonmel RFC on Sunday the 13th of September the "Boys in Blue" showed their intent from the start and the large crowd of supporters were in buoyant form. As with many games in this competition the opening 20 minutes are a cagey affair as both sets of players test and probe their opposition. Eventually the game fell into a pattern which was the team with the advantage of the breeze having the Lion’s share of possession and territorial advantage. In the first half this was the homeside but backs and forwards failed to combine well to build phases as we kept losing the initiative in the Lineouts and scrumages. Kilfeacle went ahead when Shane Looby kicked a penalty. Clonmel are resilient and put together some good play and finally breached a stubborn Kilfeacle defence to score an unconverted try, which left the scoreboard reading 5 – 3 with half time looming. However once again Kilfeacle showed their determination and in the dying minutes of the half earned themselves a penalty which Shane Looby kicked. Clonmel missed three kickable penalties in the first half so it was a tale of nearly and almost the visitors, a tale unluckily for Kilfeacle that would end in tears! At half time the score line read 6 – 5 to the home side but not really a true reflection of the play. The second half started with Kilfeacle putting all the pressure on the Clonmel RFC defence. Clonmel RFC defended and were able to halt the onslaught as the capitalised on the troubles Kilfeacle were having in the Lineout and scrums. The travelling supporters were expectant of more scoring especially with the aid of the breeze and they weren’t disappointed as in the second half their team scoreed two converted trys and two penalties and the homeside could not score. When the final whistle sounded a spent band of players wearing the blue of Kilfeacle stood dejected and knew that on the day they were not the better team. They gave their all and did the club proud, every single man, but our hopes of winning this year’s Garryowen Cup died in the celebrations of our opponents. We would like to thank everyone who travelled on the day and all from Clonmel RFC, thank them for a good game and wish the club the best for the rest of the season. Our fist team is back in action next Saturday the 19th of September in a friendly against Newport at Morrissey Park which will be a curtain raiser the Garryowen Cup Final against Clonmel R.F.C. and Galbally R.F.C. which is due to kick off at 7.00p.m. The team are delighted by the amount of support they receive and hope that their supporters will continue to come along and support the "Boys in Blue". Underage Ruby continues! Both mini and youth Rugby training continues at Morrissey Park, (the Hill), in Kilfeacle every Friday at 19.00hrs.With a primary focus on fun, safety, learning the skills and improving the all important agility, balance and co-ordination of each child we welcome back our regular players and we extend a warm welcome to any new players who would like to come and play for the Blues. The underage’s of Kilfeacle have experienced quite a degree of success over the past number of years and it is envisaged this year will be no different.Children from the ages of 6 and upwards are most welcome and importantly parents of the children are encouraged to come to the sessions, meet the coaches of each of the grades, meet the other parents and generally integrate within the groups.So see you all in Kilfeacle on Friday at 7. BRUFF For the first time in three months we saw a bit of Sunshine in Kilballyowen but that’s about as good as it got for the first XV. Despite a good performance, events conspired again and again to deny Bruff the try that they needed to put away their First division opposition. On four separate occasions they were denied what would have been deserved tries by the staunch and strong Munster’s Defence. The first half was a tale of two kickers. Bruff’s Captain Brian Cahill putting over three tough ones and missing one more, the Young Munster Out half, Alan Kinsley missed three from in front of the posts, the only difference between the three being the distances. With the first half broken for water breaks, the play swapped end to end, both defences winning out and nullifying their oppositions attacks. Half time saw the players taking on loads of liquid but with Bruff with a nine point lead, you felt it should have been more. A brace of thwarted earlier efforts in front of the line for the Bruff back line would prove crucial in the finish. The first binning of the day of a Bruff forward with a minute to play in the half giving a one man advantage to Munster’s, the only chink of light between the sides at this stage. Munster’s made full use of the extra man on the restart, before Binning number two took place, a try by Second Row Shane O’ Neill was converted by Kinsley, finally getting his kicking boots back. This brought the cookies back to within a score and a nearly blocked down drop on 48 minutes gave them the single point lead for the first time in the game. Full back Ray Moloney took over the responsibilities with the boot and slotted another three pointer on 63 minutes and repeated this on 72 mins. The Second half closed out with Bruff doing all the attacking, getting within 5 yards on a number of occasions only to end with the ref blowing and Munster’s the beneficiaries of the relief on most of the occasions. Bruff chose to take the scrum for one five meter penalty but Munster’s Scrum was finally strong when they needed it most and they managed to turn the ball over. A last gasp break from John Moore from long range was finally broken up two meters short and referee Dermot Moloney blew the game up, Munster’s scraping their way out from Alcatraz. This closes the Munster competitions off for Bruff, the next competitive outing for the first team is away to Clonakilty on the 26th for the AIB Cup 1st Round. BRUFF: Paul O’Brien, John Moore, Garry Leonard, Brian Cahill (Capt), Nigel Riordan, Philip Moloney, Tony Cahill, David Horan, Graham Bolger, Stephen Foster, Richard Wall, Maurice O’Connell, Pádraig Clery, John Stephen Shine and Michael Carroll. Replacements: Cathal O’ Regan for Bolger and Gearóid Ryan for Foster (44) and Andrew White for Carroll (71). Bruff J2 Squad played a friendly against Castleisland. They came out on the wrong side of a 37 points to 25 points open flowing running game played in a very friendly atmosphere. Fixtures for the coming week: U20 NM Lge: Shannon v Bruff – Saturday, 2:30pm Coonagh Senior Friendly: Bruff v Nenagh – Saturday, 2:30pm Bruff J2 Friendly: Bruff v UL Bohs (Saturday 4pm Bruff) Richard Leonard, PRO Bruff RFC.