Munster Junior 1 League – Round 12 & Garryowen Cup Final
Thurles 27 – Kilfeacle 30
Thurles produced a stirring display against newly crowned league champions Kilfeacle in an all-Tipperary clash at Loughtagala last Sunday, a contest that doubled as Round 12 of the Munster J1 League and the Garryowen Cup Final. In a fiercely physical encounter, Thurles matched the champions for long periods but ultimately paid a heavy price for indiscipline.
Having applauded the newly crowned league champions onto the pitch, as is the custom, the home side made a dream start. A long drop-off from kick off forced a pressured Kilfeacle clearance, which was superbly blocked down by Thurles, earning a five-metre scrum. From the resulting platform, Sam Quinlan popped to Sonny Dwyer on the crash ball who hauled down just a yard short, Thurles recycled quickly, before Jock Fogarty crashed over from close range on three minutes. Fionn Fogarty added the conversion for a 7–0 lead.
The game quickly developed into a bruising affair, with big collisions and frayed tempers. Kilfeacle responded on 19 minutes with their first meaningful attack, working several phases before exploiting an overlap on the blindside to score in the corner, narrowing the gap to 7–5.
Thurles hit back almost immediately. A good lineout win on the Kilfeacle 10 metre line was followed some good phase play before slick handling across the backline created space for Paddy McGrath, who produced a superb individual effort — breaking tackles and powering in from 22 metres under the posts for his first of two tries. Fogarty converted to make it 14–5 after 21 minutes. A late first-half penalty from Fogarty stretched the lead further before Thurles struck a devastating blow on the stroke of half-time.
Under intense pressure inside their own 22, Thurles defended ferociously until a loose ball was gathered by Fionn Fogarty, who launched a counterattack to halfway before releasing Sean McGrath. He in turn fed his brother Paddy, who sprinted clear from halfway to score under the posts. The conversion left Thurles 24–10 ahead at the break.
Kilfeacle responded early in the second half with a try on 44 minutes to reduce the deficit to 24–17, setting up a tense final half hour. Thurles responded almost immediately, the Kilfeacle out half fumbled a Thurles clearance kick just outside his own 22m line and the referee awarded a Thurles penalty for dissent straight in front from 30m – Fionn Fogarty struck an excellent penalty kick into the breeze to push Thurles out to 27 – 17 with 48 minutes elapsed. The pivotal moment came on 50 minutes when Thurles prop Gerry McCormack received a red card for a push to the face of a Kilfeacle player interpreted as striking by the referee, having initially conceding a penalty for a high tackle. To add insult to injury, Kilfeacle from the ensuing penalty and lineout scored their third try to reduce the gap to 27 – 22. Reduced to 14 men, Thurles’ task became even harder when yellow cards followed for Eoghan Dwyer and Stephen Shaw for similar offences, leaving the home side down to 13 men for a significant spell in the closing half hour of the game. Seamie Holahan had to make way for replacement prop James Butler also due to the red card. Thurles hung on grimly to their 5 point lead before they were finally breached on 74 minutes – a rolling maul from Kilfeacle causing the initial damage before the recycled to score after several phases. The coup de gras came just on 80 minutes when Thurles having defended brilliantly initially, despite only having 13 on the field at the time, forced a knock on under their own posts with time almost up. However Kilfeacle forced a penalty in the ensuing scrum and made the easy kick to seal the game 30 – 27 and maintain their unbeaten league status and claim the Garryowen cup.
Thurles 27 – Kilfeacle 30
Thurles produced a stirring display against newly crowned league champions Kilfeacle in an all-Tipperary clash at Loughtagala last Sunday, a contest that doubled as Round 12 of the Munster J1 League and the Garryowen Cup Final. In a fiercely physical encounter, Thurles matched the champions for long periods but ultimately paid a heavy price for indiscipline.
Having applauded the newly crowned league champions onto the pitch, as is the custom, the home side made a dream start. A long drop-off from kick off forced a pressured Kilfeacle clearance, which was superbly blocked down by Thurles, earning a five-metre scrum. From the resulting platform, Sam Quinlan popped to Sonny Dwyer on the crash ball who hauled down just a yard short, Thurles recycled quickly, before Jock Fogarty crashed over from close range on three minutes. Fionn Fogarty added the conversion for a 7–0 lead.
The game quickly developed into a bruising affair, with big collisions and frayed tempers. Kilfeacle responded on 19 minutes with their first meaningful attack, working several phases before exploiting an overlap on the blindside to score in the corner, narrowing the gap to 7–5.
Thurles hit back almost immediately. A good lineout win on the Kilfeacle 10 metre line was followed some good phase play before slick handling across the backline created space for Paddy McGrath, who produced a superb individual effort — breaking tackles and powering in from 22 metres under the posts for his first of two tries. Fogarty converted to make it 14–5 after 21 minutes. A late first-half penalty from Fogarty stretched the lead further before Thurles struck a devastating blow on the stroke of half-time.
Under intense pressure inside their own 22, Thurles defended ferociously until a loose ball was gathered by Fionn Fogarty, who launched a counterattack to halfway before releasing Sean McGrath. He in turn fed his brother Paddy, who sprinted clear from halfway to score under the posts. The conversion left Thurles 24–10 ahead at the break.
Kilfeacle responded early in the second half with a try on 44 minutes to reduce the deficit to 24–17, setting up a tense final half hour. Thurles responded almost immediately, the Kilfeacle out half fumbled a Thurles clearance kick just outside his own 22m line and the referee awarded a Thurles penalty for dissent straight in front from 30m – Fionn Fogarty struck an excellent penalty kick into the breeze to push Thurles out to 27 – 17 with 48 minutes elapsed. The pivotal moment came on 50 minutes when Thurles prop Gerry McCormack received a red card for a push to the face of a Kilfeacle player interpreted as striking by the referee, having initially conceding a penalty for a high tackle. To add insult to injury, Kilfeacle from the ensuing penalty and lineout scored their third try to reduce the gap to 27 – 22. Reduced to 14 men, Thurles’ task became even harder when yellow cards followed for Eoghan Dwyer and Stephen Shaw for similar offences, leaving the home side down to 13 men for a significant spell in the closing half hour of the game. Seamie Holahan had to make way for replacement prop James Butler also due to the red card. Thurles hung on grimly to their 5 point lead before they were finally breached on 74 minutes – a rolling maul from Kilfeacle causing the initial damage before the recycled to score after several phases. The coup de gras came just on 80 minutes when Thurles having defended brilliantly initially, despite only having 13 on the field at the time, forced a knock on under their own posts with time almost up. However Kilfeacle forced a penalty in the ensuing scrum and made the easy kick to seal the game 30 – 27 and maintain their unbeaten league status and claim the Garryowen cup.
Despite heroic defence and flashes of attacking quality, Thurles’ indiscipline, with a high penalty count, proved costly against opposition of Kilfeacle’s calibre.
With one league fixture remaining, Thurles now face a must-win encounter at home to fellow strugglers Old Christians in two weeks’ time if they are to preserve their Division One status.
With one league fixture remaining, Thurles now face a must-win encounter at home to fellow strugglers Old Christians in two weeks’ time if they are to preserve their Division One status.
1 Ger McCormack, 2 Shane Nugent, 3 John Shaw, 4 Colin Nolan, 5 Jason Theron, 6 Mark Cummins, 7 Jock Fogarty, 8 Sam Quinlan, 9 James Maher, 10 Fionn Fogarty, 11 Sean McGrath, 12 Sonny Dwyer, 13 Eoghan Dwyer, 14 Seamie Holohan, 15 Paddy McGrath.
Replacements: Stephen Shaw(for James Maher), James Butler ( for Seamie Holohan), Ciaran Murphy (for Shane Nugent), Donnacha Ryan(for Colin Nolan), Dan Lanigan Ryan, Ed O’Gorman (Mark Cummins), Evan Ryan, Dylan Shaughnessy, James O’Mara.
