Munster J1 League – Round 10
Thurles RFC 10 – St Mary’s RFC 12

Loughtagalla

Thurles’ hopes of securing their First Division status suffered another blow on Sunday afternoon as St Mary’s of Limerick edged a tense and hard-fought Round 10 Munster J1 League encounter at Loughtagalla.

The home side started with purpose and were rewarded after 20 minutes when sustained forward pressure created the opening score. Strong approach play from the Thurles pack down the right channel laid the platform, and winger Séamie Holohan finished well in the corner to give Thurles a 5–0 lead. The difficult conversion was narrowly missed.

Despite enjoying spells of territory, Thurles were unable to extend their advantage, and indiscipline began to creep into their game. That proved costly just before the break. A succession of penalties inside the Thurles red zone allowed St Mary’s to build pressure, and when the ball was moved swiftly wide, the visiting winger exploited a stretched defence to score in the corner on 38 minutes. The conversion was unsuccessful, leaving the sides level at 5–5 at half-time.

The second half began brightly for Thurles, who struck first through an excellent backs’ move. Sonny Dwyer was heavily involved, carrying strongly and linking play before releasing Fionn Fogarty, who powered over out wide on the right at the clubhouse end. Once again, the conversion drifted wide, but Thurles held a 10–5 lead.

St Mary’s responded almost immediately, again benefiting from Thurles indiscipline. A series of penalties brought play to the Thurles five-metre line, and when the home side illegally collapsed the ensuing maul, Colin Nolan was shown a yellow card. The visitors made their numerical advantage count, rumbling over from a second maul close to the posts on 67 minutes. This time the conversion was straightforward, pushing St Mary’s into a 12–10 lead.

Thurles refused to go quietly and mounted a late surge. Clever work down the blind side brought them deep into St Mary’s territory and earned a kickable penalty. However, the effort drifted wide, and despite great late carries from centre partnership Sonny and Eoghan Dwyer, Thurles could not manufacture another scoring chance, even with St Mary’s reduced to 14 men in the closing moments.

Substitutions saw James Maher replace Stephen Shaw and Jason Theron come on for Mark Cummins on 56 minutes, while Dan Lanigan Ryan replaced John Shaw late on. Thurles set piece was excellent on the day and the defence was generally very good across the field; the home team will point to some missed opportunities where handling let them down when scores were available and also to some ill discipline which gave the away team scoring opportunities.  

With time and fixtures running out, Thurles’ First Division status now hangs by a thread, and they will need to find crucial points quickly to salvage their season.

Ger McCormack, Shane Nugent, John Shaw, Colin Nolan, Jason Theron, Peter Kinane, Jock Fogarty, Sam Quinlan,, Stephen Shaw, Fionn Fogarty, Sean McGrath, Sonny Dwyer, Eoghan Dwyer, Seamie Holohan, Paddy McGrath. 

Subs: James Maher (for Stephen Shaw), Dan Lanigan Ryan (for John Shaw), Mark Cummins (for Jason Theron), Ciaran Murphy, Richie Holhan, Evan Ryan, Ed O’Gorman.