GREAT Weekend For Thurles RFC,

Thurles RFC Win Division 2 of the Munster Junior League

Thurles RFC 45

Fermoy RFC 0

Thurles Rugby football club made history on Friday (22nd April) evening last when the first fifteen won the Munster Junior League Section C (Division 2) by virtue of a comprehensive 45:0 victory over a disappointing Fermoy side.

Even with Thurles resting some players as the final of the Munster junior plate is to be held two days later they were still too strong for Fermoy.

After a few minutes of getting used to players in different positions Sonny Dwyer opened the show with an impressive break through the pack and over the line for the first try after 15 minutes Seamie Houlihan tapped over the conversion, three minutes later second row Colin Nolan powered over for another which Houlihan converted, Matthew Kelly on the wing got in for another and Dylan Shaughnessy guaranteed the extra points with a try just before half time. Semaus Houlihan rounded off a good first half at out half by converting both.

The second half was more of the same with subs used to rest players for Sundays game but the system remained unchanged with the Now famous ROB O’DONOVAN ½ Million hits on joe.ie for last week’s try repeated the same feat, for to show the home supporters that last week’s try was no fluke he powered over after another run from inside his own half, unfortunately for Rob the cameras were off so no internet sensation this week. Cathal Hayes got in for another try and Paddy McGrath finished off the nights scoring with a fine run to the corner,

There were good performances all round Luke Fogarty did well in the centre. Seamie Houlihan gave a good account of himself at out half, Nathan is still talking about his pass to Paddy McGrath to cut open the defence, Conor Moloney was very strong at no 8.

This is the first league title that Thurles has won since the North Munster League win of 1983.

It was a very proud Captain Luke Kelly collected the Liam Fitzgerald Cup for winning the league undefeated 4 points clear at the top. Who in his victory speech stated how proud he was to succeed in the job that they had set for themselves last May, he acknowledged the fact that a lot of the team were young boys at the start of the season and had matured to men over the course of the year, he mentioned the continues support of the committee, the supporters who travelled to all games, the coaching staff of Eoin, Shea, Davie & Ollie. The loudest cheer was for his welcome back to Division1 for next year.

Team: Owen Byrne, Matthew Kelly, Eoin Long, Sonny Dwyer, Luke Fogarty, Semaus Houlihan, Dylan Shaughnessy Conor Moloney, Mark Cummins C, Ciaran Ryan, Sam Quinlan, Colin Nolan, Ger McCormack, Shane Nugent, John Shaw, Subs Cathal Hayes, Nathan Morehu, Paddy McGrath, Rob O Donovan, Luke Kelly,

Thurles Win the Munster Junior Plate

Thurles RFC: 30

Cobh Pirates: 8

Thurles travelled to Musgrave Park in cork city on Sunday afternoon to take on Cobh Pirates in the final of the Munster junior plate. The weather was fantastic with bright sunshine and a stiff wind and conditions perfect,

Cobh knowing that Thurles had a league game on Friday night last went on the offensive from the start and were rewarded with a penalty after 2 minutes which they converted. Thurles had to absorbed serious pressure as Cobh used the windy conditions to keep in the Thurles half and were rewarded in the 13th and 23rd minute with very kickable penalties but were shockingly missed. This would have put doubts in any team but instead Thurles reversed the flow of the game, started to keep the ball in tight and were rewarded with a penalty that the wind carried away from the posts. Thurles lost prop Gerry McCormack with a hamstring injury midway through the first half but was well replaced by Jack Kavanagh. Thurles kept up the pressure and in the 39th minute deep in the Cobh half gave away a penalty, from the resultant lineout Thurles stole the ball and worked the ball up the wing for Owen Byrne to score to go ahead 5:3 . This looked good going into half time but disaster struck when the defenders were sucked in and the Cobh winger got in for a try on the stroke of half time for the half time score to be 5:8 .

Thurles needed to change tactics and introduced Sonny Dwyer into the back line upping the intensity , change happened quickly.

Rob O'Donovan got 10minutes in the bin for a high tackle and used the ten minutes rest as an opportunity to sign autographs for his try on the internet last week to some of his ½ million followers, while he was busy on the side-line, the rest of the lads drove on and won a penalty which Paddy McGrath slotted over to level the score 8:8.

Captain Luke Kelly finished off a fine break by Sam Quinlan to score beside the post, Paddy McGrath converted, He stretched the lead with penalty after the pack and especially the front row of John Shaw, Shane Nugent and jack Kavanagh drove the much bigger heavier and tiring Pirates pack back off their own scrum turned over the ball and won the penalty.

From the kick off Thurles broke up the centre with Sonny Dwyer, looking like a Barracuda that had accidently been asked to a sardine party, racing up the centre of the field drawing in some defenders offloaded to Cathal Hayes who raced up the wing drew the last defender passed to Eoghan O’Dwyer for him to score.

Conor Moloney and Matthew Kelly came on and added more pep to the team. Thurles were well on top now, Eoghan got his normal 10 minutes in the bin that he gets on visits to Musgrave Park with two minutes to go, and the final try came from another Sonny Dwyer break up the middle again drew the defenders offloaded to Ciarán Ryan who got near the line and passed to Luke Kelly to score again beside the post, no more than he deserved as a great leader on the field and only leads by the example of hard work and work rate. Paddy McGrath added the conversion to leave the final score 30:8.

This was a great team performance all around the front row of John Shaw Jnr who played like a seasoned veteran and possibly played his best game to date, Shane Nugent at hooker is the quite industrious type who does his work well Ger McCormack was going well until injured but Jack Kavanagh who has been on the side-lines most of the year took his opportunity well and added power and mobility to the pack, the second rows of Colin Nolan and Luke Kelly soaked up an amount of pressure and their work rate around the field would not be out of place at senior provincial level, Kelly showed his determination when following up breaks by the fast backs was on hand to score twice even in the last minute. The back row of Mark Cummins whose acrobatic feats in the lineout are a joy to watch he constantly defies the opposition jumpers winning his own ball and stealing more than his fair share of theirs. Rob O Donovan was as solid as usual apart from his Fan Zone brake, worked very hard especially when Thurles were under pressure in the first half. Sam Quinlan is a young man with a great future ahead of him, his presence on the field is immense for a man of his age, his positional sense and his work rate is amazing. In the Half back positions Seamie Houlihan was very good with good vision and his distribution was excellent outside him was James Maher who worked the back line well tackling well and his positional kicking was very good, just a small bit concerned that he may be making a positional change in the future as he was happy to be included in a photograph of the front rows taken after the match he could be trying to show that he has the attributes for fitting into a front row. The wingers of Dylan Shaughnessy and Cathal Hayes worked well and The centres of Owen Byrne and Eoghan O’Dwyer were solid Owen took his try well but settled back into his normal wing position at half time. Paddy McGrath at full back was again very solid under the high ball and showed glimpses of the danger within when at full flight with the ball in hand, he took his kicks well on a day not suited due to a strong wind. Sonny Dwyer when introduced added extra pep to the lads around him with all the experience from his years with Cork Con and his work rate and tackling when himself and Eoghan are together in the centre they form "the Dwyer dream team" an impregnable line and their support to each other going forward is frightening to defenders one at a time one dishes it out and the other supports or vice versa,. Ciaran Ryan was very solid and very strong going forward, Jack Kavanagh did really well taking his opportunity with relish. Matthew Kelly did well when introduced Richie Houlihan and Brian O’Connell were unlucky not to be introduced but with men in the bin it’s hard to make the changes a coach may require.

It’s very rare for any team to win 3 cups in a season The Munster Junior League Section C Last Friday the Munster Junior Clubs Challenge Shield in March and The Munster Junior Plate so hats off to all involved The Coaches Eoin O Connor, Shea Scanlon, Davie Kelly & Ollie Geoghegan to the club committee and the many supporters and families who travelled throughout the province this season Well done to All.

The Seconds Team Have a very busy couple of weeks ahead with the Gleeson Cup , the Webb Cup and the Evans Cup to be completed hopefully they will drive on from the example of the firsts, check the social media sites for times and venues as changes happen, like last weeks game and teams can be given only a days’ notice on fixtures.

Team Paddy McGrath, Dylan Shaughnessy, Cathal Hayes, Owen Byrne, Eoghan O’Dwyer, James Maher, Semaus Houlihan, Ger McCormack, Shane Nugent, John Shaw Jnr, Colin Nolan, Luke Kelly C, Rob O Donovan, Mark Cummins, Sam Quinlan, Subs: Sonny Dwyer, Ciaran Ryan, Conor Moloney, Jack Kavanagh, Matthew Kelly, Brian O’Connell, Richie Houlihan.