Thurles Rugby Club return to winning ways at “The Hill”

Munster Junior League – Round 14

Kilfeacle RFC 10. Thurles RFC 40

It was a fixture that was picked out by many at the start of the year as not the place to be going seeking points, and charity most certainly would not be available on ‘The Hill’ in one of the most notoriously difficult places to win in this division. Thurles were facing Kilfeacle for the first time in over 12 years in the league at this level needing to win and possibly a bonus point win, both are things as rare as hens’ teeth in this part of West Tipperary. A hurting Thurles team turned up knowing they had a point to prove. Some home truths had been exchanged in training by some senior players that set the tone for this display after the collective had an off day last Sunday at home to St. Marys in the league. Final words and speeches aside Thurles tested the hinges on the dressing room doors as they emerged for battle. The opening exchanges were ferociously physical, but Thurles had the better field position kicking off with the advantage of a fresh south westerly blowing in from the Tipperary town end. It took just seven minutes for Thurles to grab this game by the scruff of the neck, some crisp handling to the left saw Cathal Hayes make ground with his usual ease, holding off would be tacklers transferring back inside basketball style to Conor O Hagan to race in from ten metres and divert behind close to the posts making the conversion a formality. Barely six more minutes had elapsed when Thurles registered their next score, good field position from a good kick chase led to several phases and good ball retention before Eoghan Dwyer bludgeoned his way in from twenty metres touching down under the posts and again converted by Conor O’Hagan to put Thurles out to fourteen. Kilfeacle woke up and started to fire a few shots of their own, culminating in their left winger scoring wide on the left, despite some desperate Thurles defence, after the half hour had elapsed. At this stage Thurles had lapsed into an arm wrestle of ball carrying into contact against a physically formidable Kilfeacle side – a point noted and quickly addressed by the Thurles management and team. Thurles reacted well to this set back and were soon back in control with a well taken score again by Eoghan Dwyer this time wide on the right leaving O’Hagan with a challenging conversion which he duly nailed. 21-5 at this point with what was thought to be 2 minutes left in the half Thurles won a penalty just inside the Kilfeacle half 45m. This was to be the first of hat trick of penalty kicks by O’Hagan in an exhibition goal kicking to push Thurles out to what was an almost unassailable 30 – 5 scoreline at half time. However, this is a very competitive league and Kilfeacle are battle hardened performers at this level so when they crossed for their second try just after the restart there were some nervous moments.  After some punishing ball carrying and series of penalties conceded by Thurles they eventually worked an overload to Thurles right. The scoreboard now read 30 – 10 in favour of Thurles. The game entered a phase of Kilfeacle dominance before Thurles threatened to rebound with a score of their own. A super grubber kick by Eoghan Dwyer after some good handling by the Thurles backs led to Thurles pressure in the red zone, Eoin Byrne narrowly denied by a wayward pass, let Kilfeacle off the hook. The Thurles backline , always dangerous with ball in hand were now starting to motor again and a poor kick clearance led to a sweeping swift Thurles counter attack on the 60 minute mark, simple well timed passes across the entire backline released Cathal Hayes down the left wing with 55 metres to go,  the Kilfeacle scrum half desperately covering across was left flailing and Hayes outsprinted the remaining defence to dot down under the posts, sealing the win and bonus point for Thurles. Donnacha Ryan a second half sub for Joey Kelly dotted down at 70 minutes after great approach work by Thurles securing his second win of the weekend over Kilfeacle having captained the seconds in their win on the previous Friday night.

With some tactical and some enforced changes, management were able to field a very strong team, Joey Kelly coming in to bolster the backrow freeing Sonny Dwyer to renew his centre partnership with Eoghan Dwyer and add his experience and hard tackling to this area of the field. Dan Lee making a rare start at loosehead after an injury hit season. The set piece was flawless providing excellent quality ball for the Thurles backline. Despite missing Paddy McGrath through injury Thurles were able field a hugely effective back line with Seamie Holohan at scrumhalf, the highly experienced Eamonn Connolly at outhalf and a hard running back three of Cathal Hayes, Conor O’Hagan and Eoin Byrne, with some equally competent options available as back up on the bench with James Maher, Luke Fogarty and Matty Kelly. The pack was the omnipresent John Shaw at tighthead, Shane Nugent at hooker and the aforementioned Dan Lee, who all played the full 80 minutes, locked by the engine room of Luke Kelly and Colin Nolan, with hardworking, Mark Cummins, Ciaran Ryan and Joey Kelly in the backrow with big contributions from subs Conor Moloney (for Kelly) Donnacha Ryan(for Nolan)and Bryan O’Connell (for Ryan).

This was a great win for a team still finding its feet at this level. It proves that they are capable of competing in the top tier of junior one rugby – they have it in their own hands to finish the job in Clanwilliam on the first weekend of April. This would ensure more league outings in future with our old rivals on The Hill.

Evans Cup Semi Final

Thurles 2nd XV 19 – 14 Kilfeacle 2nd XV

Thurles welcomed Kilfeacle to loughtagalla on Friday night for the evans cup semi final.

This was always going to be a tight affair as Kilfeacle are always a difficult team to beat home or away. The early stages of the match had Thurles in the ascendancy. Thurles pressure caused Kilfeacle to cough up a penalty with Matthew Kelly off target. continued pressure resulted in a Thurles try from JD Devaney with Kelly sending the ball through the posts from a difficult angle. Game on. Kilfeacle responded with a try and conversion. Thurles responded and pushed Kilfeacle back into the 22. This pressure did not get its reward. Kilfeacle cleared a loose ball down the field and put pressure on the Thurles defence. Penalty.

Luckily it floated wide. At half time honours even.

Thurles hit the ground running at the start of the second half. the young back line began to create space and JD broke down the left and and made it to the line. 12-7.

Thurles kept the pressure on and Andrew Halloran slipped down the blind side for a classic scrum half try. Kelly obliged with the conversion. 19-7. Next score was going to be vital, Kilfeacle upped the ante and were rewarded with a try under the posts. 19-14

At this stage it was anybody's game. Thurles responded, JJ Schoeman brought his a game to the front row and along with Brandon Meany, making his debut, steadied the scrum. The pack now began to exert pressure on the opposition. Kilfeaclewere pushed back into the 22.

No further scoring took place. Thurles finished the match in control, With the final whistle a tough encounter was brought to an end. This team has a nice mixture of youth and experience and now head to the final. Much needs to be worked on but with the season coming to a close and a big squad Wednesday and Friday should see training become more intense.