Thurles RFC Vs Castleisland RFC – Munster Junior Clubs Challenge Shield.

Thurles RFC 43 – 12 Castleisland RFC

The Thurles First XV welcomed Castleisland RFC to a sunny Loughtagalla on Sunday last in the Quarter Final of the Munster Junior Clubs Challenge Shield. Thurles were looking to book their place in the semi-final stages for the third year in a row and did so in impressive fashion exceeding the 40 point mark for the third game in succession following League wins over Ballincollig and Ennis in recent weeks.

Thurles opened the scoring on the 10 minute mark through the boot of Aidan Dwyer from a penalty. From the restart, Thurles went on the attack again with an excellent exit strategy, as winger Tommy Stevens, who is getting better by the game, plucked the clearance kick from the air and took off on a run down the field before eventually being bundled into touch.

Thurles were able to keep the Kerry men inside their own half, with some excellent work from Michael Ely, Luke Kelly & Ciaran Ryan in the pack, the ball went left to right before Aidan Dwyer spotted a gap in the Castleisland defence and sneaked over to touchdown just inside the post, he added the extras himself for the full complement, 10-0.

Thurles were by no means getting things easy from Castleisland as they made a number of attempts to get on the scoreboard, the home side were just more clinical in possession and miserly in defence and as soon as Thurles regained possession again, Adrian Bourke went down the wing, supported by Peter Coman who in turn offloaded to Hooker Dave Kelly, who was coming down the field like a steam train, he sped over from 25 yards with the opposition unable to get a hand on him and dotted the ball down out wide for one of the scores of the day, Dwyer split the posts for the extras, 17-0.

Castleisland had a period of possession leading up to half time, but the Thurles defence was excellent, in particular, Shane McHugh and the centre partnership of Eoghan O’Dwyer & Shane Moloney who put in a number of big hits. Thurles managed to keep Castleisland at bay and forced a turnover to bring an end to the first half of play.

Thurles kicked off the second half but it was Castleisland who continued their promising finish to the first half, having gone through the phases the Thurles defence was still going strong but the Kerry men eventually got their reward as their hooker crashed over in the corner for an unconverted try, 17-5.

This jolt in the arm got Thurles kick started again as they went long from the kick-off forcing the opposition to kick to touch just outside their 22, the Thurles line out continued to operate excellently and with the ball eventually going wide to the backs, Tommy Stevens raced over for a well-deserved try, which Dwyer converted, 24-5. Castleisland managed to get on the scoreboard with a try from their number 8, which was converted but it happened to be in between two further Thurles tries, one from flanker Paddy Phelan who was having a powerful game and the other from Captain Eoghan O’Dwyer who continued his scoring streak, only one was converted with the score now reading 36-12.

With only a number of minutes left on the clock, Thurles were now rolling and from the restart they ran the ball from inside their own half, Ollie Delaney was now in for James Ryan, who left the field following and excellent display at scrum half, Thurles powered up the field in impressive fashion with the backs laying the foundations before Mark Cummins took off down the field, he off loaded excellently to Coman who was motoring in support who in turn found Cummins again with an excellent pass to send him on his way under the posts, Dwyer added the extras again to bring an end to the scoring for the day with Thurles’ place in the semi-final secured.

Thurles now face Waterpark at home in the Semi Final to be played on the 11th December. Thurles’ next game will be a League encounter away to Charleville on the 27th November. The players and management would like to thank all those who turned out to support the team on Sunday and hope the numbers will remain high in the run in to the Christmas period for all games home & away. First & Second XV training resumes Friday evening at 7.30 Sharp.

Thurles Scorers: Dave Kelly, Paddy Phelan, Eoghan O’Dwyer, Tommy Stevens, Mark Cummins (1 Try Each), Aidan Dwyer (1 Try, 5 Conversions & 1 Penalty).
Thurles Starting XV vs Castleisland: 1. Ger McCormack 2. Dave Kelly 3. Michael Ely 4. Shane McHugh 5. Luke Kelly 6. Mark Cummins 7. Paddy Phelan 8. Ciaran Ryan 9. James Ryan 10. Aidan Dwyer 11. Tommy Stevens 12. Shane Moloney (c) 13. Eoghan O’Dwyer (c) 14. Adrian Bourke 15. Peter Coman Subs Used: Shane Nugent, Dwayne Stanley, Ollie Delaney & Robbie O’Dwyer.

U14 Boys v Fethard

Last Saturday evening the Thurles u14s travelled to Fethard . Both teams were very well matched , Fethard got off to a better start by keeping Thurles in their own half . They eventually broke through with a strong run from their full back to go over the white line . Thurles dug deep to push back Fethard late in the first half and set them down on their 5 metre line but couldnt get through . The second half turned into a real dog fight with both teams scoring early , Fethard then got a soft try with ten minutes to go with Thurles being over stretched on the wing . It was tit for tat in the last few minutes with scores again from both sides , but it wasnt to be our boys day it ended Fethard 19 Thurles 17 . Training every Tuesday and Thursday @7.15pm .