Weekend Report January 7th & 8th
It was a very busy weekend for us as we had our U14’s, U16’s U 18’s and our Seniors competing at home.
U 14’s
A decent start to the New Year for the U14s on Saturday as they took on Listowel. They played very much as a team with much improved organization and communication in evidence. The set piece was comfortable and defensive line was solid throughout. In attack we showed good interplay between backs and forwards and were rewarded with a 19-5 lead at halftime which was extended to 26-5 at the final whistle. Killorglin try scorers were centre Darragh Mangan and back row Jack O’Brien with 2 each. Connor Spillane converted three from four. Also catching the eye were individual performances from Donncha Crowley, James Byrne, Conall Whelan and Shane O’Connor, but this was a team win in which all twenty players had a part. Next up away to Corca Dhuibhne on Saturday 14th.
Team: Shane O’Connor, Finnegan O’Sullivan, Donncha Crowley, Daragh Mangan, Cillian Buckley, Connor Spillane, Aona O’Shea, Cian O’Connor, Peadar Whelan, Kevin O’Callaghan, JP Courtney, Conall Whelan(c), Jack O’Brien, James Byrne, Jack O’Leary, Subs: Ben O’Dwyer, Derry O’Sullivan, Kealan Golden, Joe Cronin Langham, Fionn Sheahan.
U16’s
Killorglin played host to Dungarvan in the first round of the U16 Pan Munster Cup competition. Dungarvan put Killorglin under early pressure from the kick off as Killorglin elected to run the ball out of the 22. A number of errors found Killorglin defending the line from a number of attacks from Dungarvan pack. Killorglin put trust in their defense and eventually cleared their line and progressed down field. Killorglin put a number of phases together resulting in Naoise Buckley crossing the line in the left corner followed by a fine conversion from Jack Evans. Dungarvan responded with a try under the posts against the run of play from an intercepted pass. Killorglin came straight back with a strong run from Chris Scannell who was rewarded with a try. That was to be the final score of the game. The second half saw both teams put up strong defenses with the ground conditions making it difficult to pass and run the ball. Killorglin held on to the lead to see them win the 1st round 12 – 7. Great team performance by all and just rewards.
Killorglin play Skibbereen away next week in the next round of the competition.
U18’s
Killorglin hosted Newcastlewest on Saturday 7th January in first pool match of the cup. The game was played in damp and overcast weather on a Cromane pitch that was in great shape. The visitors kicked off and dominated territory for the entire half though stout Killorglin tackling kept the match scoreless until the 25th minute when Newcastlewest scored on the left. They scored again just before half time to leave the score at the interval 10 – 0 in their favour.
Killorglin tried their very best again in the second half but found it difficult to unlock the visitors defense and endured an afternoon where what could go wrong, did go wrong and seemed to continue that way. Newcastlewest scored a penalty in the only score of the second half. Killorglin kept their heads up and kept trying to find a way but were unable to in what was a very stop – start game.
Next week is a different game and our team will grow from this first cup game and travel to play Muskerry full of determination. Well done to the whole squad on their commitment.
Seniors
Our Seniors welcomed Killarney RFC in the Semi Final of the Martin O’Sullivan Cup on Sunday to Ballymalis. Killorglin started on the front foot with a well converted penalty by Luke O’Shea to put Killorglin up 3-0. Killorglin then made good use of the maul gaining important ground. A great team try followed with the ball well worked through the hands of the backs to find Liam Griffin streaking down the wing who drove over the line and touched down. Luke O’Shea made a difficult conversion look easy to give Killorglin a 10-0 lead. From the restart the referee deemed Killorglin knocked on the ball, giving Killarney a scrum at the Killorglin 22. From the resulting scrum Killarney worked the ball wide and found space to get over the line to put them right back into the game. The conversion went just wide to put the score at 10-5 to Killorglin. Killorglin showed great heart as they had an answer for Killarney’s try. Killarney committed several penalties allowing Killorglin to advance up the pitch. Killorglin earned a penalty from kickable range and O’Shea stepped up to the mark as he has all season. His kick was straight as an arrow but dropped just short. The men from puck continued to battle hard. Rodi Healy found himself in the middle of a Killarney maul and when the dust settled he came up with the ball which started the push for try number 2. Youngsters Tiarnan Clifford and Cathal Doyle combined well down the wing to gain a lot of ground. With Killorglin about 10 meters from the Killarney line brothers Fionn & Luke O’Shea combined well switching the field and getting the ball to Timmy Lynch who saw a gap in the Killarney defense and exploited it well to touch down Killorglin’s second try. The conversion went just wide to put the score at Killorglin 15 Killarney 5. Killorglin again were poor from the restart allowing Killarney to get into excellent field position. Killarney earned a penalty about 10 meters from Killorglin’s try line and decided to tap and go. Killarney got over the line but were held up. From Killarney resulting 5 meter scrum Killorglin conceded 2 penalties, and the ref awarded Killarney a penalty try. Killarney made no mistake with the conversion and the game went to halftime with Killorglin leading narrowly 15-12.
The second half saw a change in Killorglin discipline as they conceded penalty after penalty. Not long into the second half Killarney earned a penalty on the Killorglin 22 and put the ball over the bar to level the game at 15 all. As the game continued in this fashion Killarney once again had a penalty in kickable range and put themselves int he lead 18-15. This seemed to wake Killorglin up and they got a boost from a great kick off the restart from Luke O’Shea who put Killorglin in great position deep in the Killarney half. As they swung the ball across the pitch a reckless tackle on Andrew O’Reilly in which Killarney made no attempt to wrap the arms resulting in a Killorglin penalty. Although the Killorglin supporters felt this was a yellow card offense, no card was shown. Luke O’Shea calmly put the ball over the bar to bring the game to an 18 point draw…. game on. Killorglin began to push for another score, a great drive from Tiarnan Clifford who was well supported by Liam Griffin, made excellent ground. As Killorglin swiftly moved the ball across the pitch punches were thrown behind the play disrupting the game. As the referee was following the play and did not spot the original punch and he deemed that a yellow card for each team was the only fair result. From the start Killorglin could not find their rhythm and started conceding penalties again allowing Killarney back into the game. With the dying minutes Killarney earned a penalty 5 meters from Killorglin touch. In a bold choice they decided to go for the line and their determination paid off as they touched down their 3rd try. A wide conversion put the game at 23-18 to the Killarney men. With very little time left on the clock Killarney held out and won the game. A tough pill to swallow for our boys but they will learn from the game and look towards the next one.
Our seniors host Dungarvan in their 2nd to last league game of the year in Ballymalis Sunday January 22nd kick off at 2:30pm.