Weekend Report March 25th & 26th 2017
A very busy weekend for Killorglin RFC as we had 4 teams in action. On Saturday our U14’s U16’s and U18’s traveled to Tralee to compete in the West Munster Cup. Sunday our Seniors took on Fethard & District in the second round of the J1 Division 3 playoff.
U14’s
The under 14s came off second best to Tralee last Saturday on a scoreline of 41 points to 21. Early mistakes led to Tralee running in two tries and the mountain to climb was made higher by the early loss of some key players to injury. Still Killorglin came back into things with two tries from Conall Whelan either side of half time, both converted by Connor Spillane. With the scoreline at 22 -14 we started to chase the game but in the process conceded two more tries that put the result beyond doubt. We got a final try when Connor Spillane was on the end of James Byrne’s clever and perfectly weighted cross field kick, which Spillane then converted for a 100% kicking record on the day. Despite the result this was a battling performance in a tough match that the team can come away proud of.
Team: Shane O’Connor, Cillian Buckley, Darragh Mangan, , James Byrne, Donncha Crowley, Connor Spillane, Aona O’Shea, Kevin O’Callaghan, Peadar Whelan, Cian O’Connor, JP Courtney, Conall Whelan(c), Jack O’Brien, Ben ODwyer, Jack OLeary. Subs: James Prendeville, Fergal OShea, Finnegan O’Sullivan, Sean Flynn
U16’s
Killorglin U16’s traveled to Tralee in the West Munster U16 Cup. An evenly matched game that saw Killorglin dominate the set pieces and covered well in the scramble defense, when the big Tralee ball carriers punched holes in the Killorglin line. Killorglin looked threatening with ball in hand and on another day with decisions falling in their favour may have resulted in a different outcome. Killorglin showed relentless heart as they attacked the Tralee line in the dying seconds of the game to be denied the opportunity to level the game. Tralee emerged victors in what was a well contested game. Final score Tralee 17 – 10 Killorglin.
U18’s
Killorglin under 18s traveled to Tralee with a full squad and well prepared to take on Tralee in the West Munster Cup match. The match was played in beautiful sunny weather and Tralee kicked off with the ball well returned up the pitch. The first 15 minutes were very costly for Killorglin with Tralee scoring 3 tries all converted to race into a 21 – 0 lead. Some of our tackling was poor and this allowed one of the best teams in Munster under 18s to build up a head of steam. Killorglin came back into it and scored through Eoin Doyle to make score 21 – 5. Tralee were dealt with better for the rest of the half with no further scores and just at half time a Tralee player received a yellow card. Killorglin scored again early in the second half through a Jim Sugrue try and looked to be coming into the game. However, it was to be their last score as Tralee added a penalty and two more converted tries. Killorglin introduced all their substitutes and hammered on the Tralee line for the last 10 minutes but strong defending kept them at bay and left the final score 38 – 10 to the home team. Killorglin played well at times but conceded 7 of their own line outs, missed quite a few costly tackles and failed to execute a few clear opportunities. However, their spirit and commitment couldn’t be doubted with coaches and supporters being proud of their powerful and spirited effort.
Seniors
Our Seniors welcomed Fethard RFC to Ballymalis on a lovely sunny Sunday, a perfect day for rugby. With a spot in the J1 Division 3 final this game was always going to be hard fought.
The game started at a high pace and Killorglin were awarded a series of penalties and they went in search of their opening try. A strong Fethard defense kept Killorglin out but they managed 3 points from Luke O’Shea’s boot. Killorglin’s defense was tested and was helped by a huge tackle from Fionan O’Sullivan and some great strength from Cathal Doyle to rip the ball from Fethard and get back on the attack. Killorglin dominated the scrums and were gaining ground, quick hands from Dave Hayden to find Cathal Doyle running at full pace gained big meters. A knock on as Killorglin neared Fethard’s try line gave Fethard a scrum. A huge push from the pack gave Killorglin the penalty and Luke added 3 more to the tally. 6-0 to Killorglin. Fethard nearly struck back straight away but Cian Foley intervened with a massive tackle and Killorglin went into halftime with a 6-0 lead.
The second half started as quick as the first, Timmy Lynch ran a great line and earned a penalty for his side. Luke kicked sweetly and brought the score to 9-0 to Killorglin. Killorglin were then found offside but breathed a sigh of relief when the Fethard kick went wide. Fethard started to hammer the Killorglin line, George Evans put in a massive tackle to keep them from breaking through. Tony Lynch was a little overzealous as he went to clear out a ruck, he was deemed to be off his feet and was shown yellow. Fethard punished the Killorglin indiscipline and got themselves on the board. The scoreline was now 9-3 to Killorglin. Fethard were awarded a scrum on the Killorglin 10 meter line and an enormous effort from the whole pack but especially the front row of Noel O’Malley and the Hayes brothers earned Killorglin a penalty and there was no looking back now. Luke added another 3 points to the board before Andrew O’Reilly gave a great pass for Cathal Doyle who took a good step inside and managed to navigate his way through 3 Fethard players to touch down the games first try. Luke O’Shea added the spares to put the score at 19-3 to the men from Puck. Not long later a great run down the wing from Liam Foley saw him touch down near the touch line The difficult conversion went just wide, Killorglin lead 24-3. Killorglin seemed to be in the drivers seat when Fethard struck back and touched down their first try under the posts. 24-10. Killorglin threatened again but Fethard answered with another try. The game finished off on a bit of a sour note which saw Cian Foley’s season come to the end after some foul off the ball play, we all wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him on the pitch next season. The game would finished with a scoreline of 24-17 putting Killorglin in the J1 Division 3 final against their rivals Killarney RFC who beat Dungarvan 25-23 in the other semi final.
The final will take place this Sunday April 2nd at 2:30pm at home in Ballymalis. It would be great to have a big home crowd to cheer on the lads.