Weekend Rugby Roundup

Thomond’s hopes of making a return to the All Ireland League were dashed on Saturday, when Bective Rangers won the All Ireland Junior promotion Playoff Final at Cill Dara RFC, while elsewhere Old Crescent booked their place in the Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Cup Final, Clanwilliam won the Bank of Irelamd Munster Junior Plate Final and both Railway Union and U.L. Bohemian will contest the Women’s All Ireland League Final.

A five star try burst in the opening thirty minutes by Bective Rangers decided the Round Robin Final, as a Thomond rally fell short in the closing stages. Jason Kiely put Thomond into a 3-0 lead with a penalty after two minutes and despite Bective having to play with fourteen players, after two yellow cards at different stages of the next thirty minutes, Thomond conceded five tries as the Leinster champions raced into a 33-3 lead with tries from Conor Halpenny, Mattie Keane,  Matthew Gilsenan, Tiernan McCluskey, and Shane O’Mara, with Gilsenan kicking four conversions.

Thomond never gave up the fight and tries by Jamie McGarry and Eoghan Sherlock, both converted by Kiely, saw the Limerick side trail 33-17 at halftime. A Kiely try and conversion closed the gap to nine points, but two penalties from Gilsenan saw Bective extend their lead to 39-24.

A Kiely penalty and a try by Jake Connolly, converted by Kiely closed the margin, but Bective held out for the victory despite, having been shown four yellow cards in the contest and ended a seven year period in Junior rugby.

Thomond now face Cork Constitution in the Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Cup semi-final next week before traveling up to face Omagh Academicals a week later in another attempt to see who will claim the final place in Division 2C of the All Ireland League.

A late resurgence by Old Crescent saw them reach the final of the Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Cup with a 30-22 home win against Shannon.

Glen Kelly opened the scoring with a penalty for Old Crescent but tries by Kieran Kennedy and Matt Te Pau and a conversion by Cillian O’Conor put Shannon ahead. Casey Tanyl Ebai scored a try for Old Crescent to leave Shannon 12-8 ahead at the interval. Tr Pau scored his second try and O’Connor converted in the opening minute of the second half extended Shannon’s advantage to eleven points. Paudie Monaghan closed the gap with a try for the home side and Kelly converted.

O’Connor replied with a penalty for Shannon, but Old Crescent dominated the final quarter with tries from Joe Rickard and John Toland, with Kelly kicking a conversion and a penalty for a famous victory for the Rosbrien club.

Clanwilliam won the Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Plate for the second time, with a 14-8 win over Bruff at Clanwilliam Park. Tries from Ben Downey and Niall Sharpe both converted by Niall Leahy put Clanwilliam into an 14-0 lead, but Bruff were always playing catch up after that.

The All Ireland Women’s League Final will be a repeat of last year’s decider as both holders U.L. Bohemian and Railway Union won their semi-finals.

U.L. Bohemian defeated Blackrock College 15-12 at Annacotty to book their place in the final. Blackrock raced into an early 12-0 lead with tries from Andi Murphy and Maggie Boyland and a conversion by Ella Durkan. A try by Chisom Ugwueru left the home side trailing 12-5 at half time but tries from skipper Chloe Pearse and Clara Barrett saw the Limerick side reach the final.

Railway Union won their semi-final defeating Old Belvedere 37-24.