Provincial Rugby Roundup

With four games being postponed because of the weather, the race for the Division 1 Junior League title now looks like a two horse race, after Bandon suffered a home defeat against their great local rivals Skibbereen.

Kilfeacle defeated Richmond 22-10 to close the gap to five points behind leaders Thomond with just five games remaining. In a closely fought opening half Brian Mullins kicked Richmond into a 3-0 lead with a penalty. Jacques Van Wyngaardt put Kilfeacle ahead with a try which Luke Heuston converted. Shane Halpin restored the visitors lead with a try and Mullins added the extras. Kevin Kinnane gave Kilfeacle a 12-10 interval lead with his side’s second try. Kilfeacle were on top in the second half and a penalty and a conversion by Heuston, of a try by Kevin Doyle saw The Tipperary side take the spoils.

A try by Kieran Shannon and a conversion by David  Shannon gave Skibbereen a 7-0 away win at Bandon.

Crosshaven eased their relegation worries with an exciting 20-17 win over Sunday’s Well at a dense foggy Crosshaven ground on Friday night. Anthony Sheehan, Ryan O’Mahony and Patrick Cotter scored tries for Crosshaven. Kealan Daly kicked a conversion and Feargal Conway a penalty. Finn Mac Fhlannchadha, Cormac Kelliher and Ryan Kelleher replied with tries for the Well and Ciaran Maguire kicked a conversion.

Muskerry moved up to fifth place and into a challenging position for a top four finish after their  37-7  home win against St. Mary’s. Dave Galvin, Aaron O’Riordan, George O’Mahony, Tom Griffin and Liam Ryan scored tries for Muskerry. Rob Cahill converted three of the tries and also added two penalties. Aaron Nunan replied with a try for the Saints and Adam Guerin converted.

Both Clanwilliam and Old Christians extended their advantage at the top of Division Two with bonus point victories.

Clanwilliam had to pull out all the stops away to St. Senan’s before emerging 42-20 winners. Brian Kissane, Brendan Quinlan, Brian Roche, Ronan O’Connor and Darragh Burke scored tries for Clan’. Niall Leahy kicked four conversions and three penalties. Senan’s replied with two tries from Evan O’Gorman and Declan Rowe converted both and also added two penalties.

Old Christians defeated Fethard 37-7 at Rathcooney with tries from Mark Gleeson, Dan Kelleher, Laszio Rabatin, Oscar Clarke, Conor Smiddy, Dave Ahern and Ivan Tripp. Mike Riordan kicked one conversion. Fethard replied with a try by Gary Kavanagh, which Peter Wall converted.

Ennis moved up to third place after their 25-17 home win against Ballincollig but are eleven points behind the leaders. Shane Punch scored two tries for the Clare side and Joey Keane, Brendan Keane and Cormac Browne got one each. Ballincollig replied with tries from Oscar Early, Rob Foulkes and Derry Kiely. Eoin Sweeney added one conversion.

Cobh Pirates drew level on points with Kinsale after they defeated them 39-10. Storm LeRoux scored two tries for the Pirates, and Ben Kennedy. Billy Cain, George Rasmussen, Cian McNamara and Jack Worrall got one each. Cain and Rasmussen each kicked a conversion.

Fermoy lost at home to Waterpark 13-3. Ben McCarthy gave Fermoy a 3-0 interval lead with a penalty, but a try by Michael Hayes and a conversion and two penalties by Ben Daly earned the visitors victory.

Youghal  retain top spot in Division 3, after their 29-5 home win against Dungarvan, Jordan Yellop scored two tries for Youghal and Ryan Coady, Sean O’Riordan and Leon Kenneally got one each. Nathan O’Halloran added two conversions. Donnacha Dunphy replied with a try for Dungarvan.

Carrick-on-Suir kept up their challenge with a 41-8 home win against Douglas. Jack Boylan scored three tries for the Tipperary side and Ryan O’Donoghue, Jack O’Connell, Cian Walsh and Kyle Cooke got one each. Fionn Barry kicked four conversions. Douglas replied with a try from Rory Lynch and a penalty by Eoin Philpott.

Killarney moved into third place after their 26-11 away win at neighbours Killorglin. Donnchadh Grealy, Brendan Fuller and Tomás Clifford (2) were the Killarney try scorers. Grealy converted three of the tries. Stephen Cotter replied with a try for Killorglin and Luke O’Shea kicked two penalties.

Waterford City defeated Galbally-Mitchelstown 19-17 with tries from Ethan Sullivan, Peter Walsh and Killian Power. Mikey O’Connor kicked two conversions. Dan Gleeson and David Norris replied with tries for the visitors and Pa Shanahan converted both and also added a penalty.

Ardscoil Old Boys got back to winning ways with a 23-10 home win against Scariff. Robin Healy, Aaron Dunne, Darragh Farragher and Alex Keyes scored tries for Ardscoil and Jamie Moore kicked a penalty Scariff replied with tries from Donal Moloney and Mark Walsh.