Weekend Round Up - Thurles RFC

Waterpark RFC Vs. Thurles RFC – Munster Junior League

Waterpark 15 – 7 Thurles RFC

The Thurles First XV made the trek to the Deise County on Sunday morning last to take on one of the new comers to the division in the shape of Waterpark, who were relegated last season from Division 1 of the Munster Junior League. Thurles were looking to follow up on their bonus point win the week previous week over Kinsale but travelled with a number of injury concerns, 3 players were ruled out completely & a further 4 only being passed fit to play before kick-off.

The opening quarter of the game started with both sides trading blow for blow as they attempted to settle and get a foothold in the game. Unfortunately for the Tipp men, it was Waterpark who opened the scoring following good play off the back of a line out, there was some doubt surrounding the try as it seemed the ball had been moved forward through the maul but the try was awarded & the extras added for the maximum, 7-0 to the home side.


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Luke Kelly soars high during the 15-7 loss to Waterpark on Sunday in the league

Thurles kept up the fight straight from the restart with Paddy Phelan reacting fastest to excellently claim the kick-off, this set the platform for a decent spell of attack, with Ger McCormack, Shane McHugh & Michael Ely coming close with different attempts at the line. Waterpark eventually turned over the ball and were able to clear their lines. Thurles kept the pressure on and a great kick from John Lillis in behind the home defence caused problems for the Waterpark full back, as he blatantly knocked the ball foward trying to retrieve the kick, both sides stopped momentarily waiting for the referee to award the scrum but it was not forthcoming, with that, the full back took off down the field, an excellent combined tackle from Nicky Irwin & Dean McCormack halted him in his tracks but with the momentum with the team going forward, the tracking Thurles defenders were unable to prevent Waterpark crossing for their second try of the game in the corner to increase the lead to 12-0 with conversion missed.

Waterpark added a penalty shortly before the halftime break to push the score out to 15-0 & make it a three score game. The second half kicked off & Thurles started to look more like the one we have become accustomed to over the past couple of years. Thurles came close to opening their account on a number of occasions with a forward pass to Dean McCormack preventing him from finishing from 30 yards with an open field ahead being the most notable missed opportunity.

Waterpark continued to ask questions of the Thurles defence, especially down the 10-12 channel where Aidan & Eoghan O’Dwyer were seeing a lot of the traffic but time and time again they were halted in their tracks and the ball turned over as soon as the ref called maul. Thurles were rewarded for their efforts following some great combination play from the backs & forwards, it was Peter Coman who crashed over on his return from injury to get Thurles on the board, John Lillis made the difficult conversion look easy as it sailed over the black spot for the full complement, 15-7.

Thurles once again continued to press in the final minutes but were unable to get close enough for a drop goal attempt to secure the losing bonus point, the game finished 15-7 to Waterpark in what was a hard fought game throughout. Thurles will take a lot of positives from Sunday’s game despite leaving empty handed, a number of pre-season casualties were able to get some valuable game time under their belt as they continue their comeback and with a number of other key players yet to return to the fold from injury, Thurles will continue to build and get back on track.

Next up for Thurles is a home fixture against Limerick’s Presentation RFC, this game is down for a 2.30pm Kick off at Loughtagalla this Sunday 9th October, all support would be greatly appreciated for this important League Fixture. The Players & Management would like to thank all those who made the effort to travel to Waterpark on Sunday, it was great to see a strong travelling contingent.

Thurles Scorers: Peter Coman (1 Try), John Lillis (1 Conversion).
Thurles Starting XV vs Waterpark: 1. Ger McCormack 2. Shane Nugent 3. Michael Ely 4. Shane McHugh 5. Luke Kelly 6. Ciaran Ryan 7. Paddy Phelan 8. Joey Kelly 9. Nicky Irwin 10. Aidan Dwyer 11. Tommy Connolly 12. John Lillis 13. Eoghan O’Dwyer (c). 14. Dean McCormack 15. Tommy Stephens Subs Used: Dylan Dorney, Dave Kelly, Mark Cummins, Peter Coman & Larry O’Gorman.