Thurles RFC continue 8 game winning streak and advance to round 2 of the Munster Junior Cup

Thurles RFC vs. Newcastle West RFC – Munster Junior Cup

Newcastle West RFC 13 – 18 Thurles RFC

The Thurles First XV were in action for the first time in 2016 on Sunday last as they took to road as far as Newcastle West to take on the Division 1 side in the first round of the Munster Junior Cup. Thurles were travelling in the hope of causing an upset against a side who pushed Clonmel all the way for the 1st Division Title last season and were hoping that the 4 week layoff over the Christmas period wouldn’t result in cobwebs or rustiness, Newcastle West had a game under their belt the previous week which should have helped their match fitness.

Thurles suffered a setback prior to kick-off with Shane Lanigan-Ryan failing a late fitness test having picked up an injury at training on Friday night but Thurles had the luxury of welcoming Club Captain, Eoghan O’Dwyer back into the fold following his long injury lay off to ensure that the side was in no way weakened.

The men from Loughtagalla who were looking to continue their recent great run of victories, seemed well up for this game and took the game to the Limerick side from the off, after a few exchanges early on, Thurles were presented with a chance to open the scoring with a penalties, Aidan Dwyer stepped up and split the posts for the first score of the day, 0-3.

The next 10 minute period gave rise to a cheer from the home crowd as an over anxious Thurles defender raced out of the line to provide a rare gap for the speedy Newcastle West winger to race over in the corner and score what would be hard to say a deserved try given Thurles’ dominance in the opening quarter. The home side’s kicker slotted the conversion for the maximum with an excellent kick from the corner, 7-3.

Thurles continued to dominate this first half and the front row of McCormack, Kelly & Skehan were proving to be more than a handful for their counterparts. The Tipp men were looking dangerous with every attack with Eoghan O’Dwyer, Peter Coman & Joey Kelly asking plenty of questions of the Newcastle West defence, Thurles again were awarded a penalty for not releasing in the tackle and Aidan Dwyer stepped up once again to get his second of the day to peg back the score to the minimum, 7-6.

Newcastle West restarted the game and it was Larry O’Gorman who leaped highest to claim the ball from the air but in doing so he was dangerously tackled in the air and Thurles were awarded a penalty which was able to bring them inside the home side’s 22. Thurles secured their own line out through Phil Kelly who conducted proceedings in the pack before a ‘West’ player was sin binned for an infringement in the maul, but this yellow card was primarily due to persistent fouling on his team’s behalf.

Thurles were awarded a scrum as the game restarted, Irwin fed his out-half Dwyer, who in turn got both Shane Moloney’s involved, first up was Shane (K) who made excellent ground up the centre before excellently offloading to Dwyer again who drew the defender in before sending full back Shane (B) away to touch down to the left of the posts to reclaim the lead, Moloney was full worth for his try as this was most likely his finest performance to date in his debut season with the Thurles First XV. Dwyer added the extra’s for the full seven points to leave Thurles ahead at the break, 7-13.

The second half kicked off with Thurles knowing that they were 40 minutes away from causing a major Cup shock. The first quarter of the second half saw a lot of kicking with both sides looking for possession but it was eventually the home side who opened the scoring in the second half with a penalty just outside the Thurles 22 to reduce the deficit to 10-13.

The home support might have thought that this penalty was the platform for their team to push on and finish off their Division 2 opposition but this Thurles team had other ideas, from the kick-off Newcastle West exited with a high box kick which Peter Coman made easy work of despite the pressure of opposition chasers, the ruck was set up and Thurles started to make their way up the field. Ciaran Ryan who was putting in another fantastic game made good yards up the field, ably supported by second half sub, Luke Kelly and winger Adrian Bourke who was heavily involved all day.

Thurles continued to turn the screw and it was Shane Moloney (K) who pierced through the centre once again to bring play well inside the Newcastle West 22, Moloney popped to the oncoming Aidan Dwyer in support, who made a few more yards before presenting the ball for Irwin to distribute, Irwin found Ger McCormack down the blind and the prop excellently drew in two defenders before excellently offloaded to Paddy Phelan who dived over with inches to spare in the corner for what was a superb team try start to finish, the conversion was missed but Thurles’ made this a two score game heading into the last quarter, 10-18.

Thurles had crossed the line again within minutes, with what has to be described (would have been) as one of the tries of the season, from the kick off, Peter Coman recovered the sloppy ball along the ground, he disposed of his opposite number along the sideline before doing the same to another would be tackler, he offloaded in field to Phelan in support who in turn found Skehan in full speed, he attracted the attention of 2 defenders before setting Shane Moloney (B) off, Moloney won the race to the corner and the Referee awarded the try, before Thurles could take the conversion, the Newcastle West lines man drew the attention of the referee to state that Coman had put a foot in touch, this was a shocking call as Peter was 3 or 4 yards from the touchline, in fairness to the referee he had no choice but to take the word of his lines man and so play was brought back inside the Thurles 22 with the home side having the attacking lineout.

Thurles introduced some fresh legs for the final 10 minutes with John Lillis making a welcome return to the black and white of Thurles, replacing Adrian Bourke who had put in a good day’s work on the wing.

Newcastle West restarted the game with the attacking lineout in the hope of getting themselves back into the game, they were met with a monster Thurles defence which eventually saw the Tipp men man handle the Newcastle West maul and drove them out over the touchline in the dead ball line, resulting in a Thurles 22 drop out.

The home side were awarded a penalty for a player not rolling away and they took their chances by slotting it over in the hope of making their way down the field for a try to claim the tie with the score now reading 13-18. Thurles went long with the restart and the Newcastle West counter attack was met with a black wall of resistance, the home side went left, right and eventually backwards as the Thurles men were in no mood to give up their place in this year’s Junior Cup.

Newcastle West eventually gave into the relentless pressure from the Thurles defence with Luke Kelly forcing a turnover as a member of the opposition found himself isolated, Kelly supported by Ryan Dave Kelly didn’t hesitate in getting his hands on the ball before the Limerick man was penalised for holding onto the ball on the ground, Thurles kicked to touch to bring an end to the game and cause one of the upsets of the day.

This fantastic win see’s Thurles get a bye into the 3rd Round of the Munster Junior Cup where they will face senior side Young Munster at home on a date to be confirmed. This win in the Junior Cup was a great start to the 2016, with the final of the Munster Junior Challenge Shield to look forward to already, Thurles now turn their attention back to League action when they face another away fixture in Kinsale this coming weekend as they continue the promotion push.

Following this great win last weekend, the Thurles First XV players and management would like to thank all those who travelled to the game on Sunday to support the team, it was greatly appreciated by all involved especially in the closing mintutes when all encouragement was needed for tiring bodies to help see out the win. We hope to see as many as possible make the trip to Kinsale next weekend.

Thurles Scorers: Shane Moloney (B) & Paddy Phelan (1 Try Each), Aidan Dwyer (1 Conversion & 2 Penalties).

Thurles Squad vs Newcastle West: 1. Ger McCormack 2. Dave Kelly 3. Colm Skehan 4. Phil Kelly 5. Larry O’Gorman 6. Ciaran Ryan 7. Paddy Phelan 8. Joey Kelly 9. Nicky Irwin 10. Aidan Dwyer 11. Peter Coman 12. Shane Moloney (Killinan) 13. Eoghan O’Dwyer (Capt.) 14. Adrian Bourke 15. Shane Moloney (Ballycahill) 16. Shane Nugent 17. Rory O’Dwyer 18. Dwayne Stanley 19. Luke Kelly 20. John Lillis.

Photo: Captain Eoghan O Dwyer made a welcome return to play after injury ruled him out for most of the season to date.