Charleville RFC Vs Thurles RFC – Munster Junior League.
Charleville RFC 13 – 17 Thurles RFC
The Thurles First XV returned to League action last Sunday following a break for the Cup Competitions and the Irish International Games, as they travelled to Cork to take on Charleville in Round 6 in the Munster Junior League. Thurles travelled with confidence following a run of good results of late but they knew they were going to have a battle on their hands against a Charleville side who have yet to win game but had earned 4 losing bonus points out of 5 games prior to this fixture.
As the game got underway, it was Charleville that started brightest, dominating the opening proceedings as Thurles seemed to be still in their cars after the journey down. The home side were rewarded for their early pressure as they crossed the line following some uncharacteristically poor tackling from the Thurles defence, the convert was added for the maximum, 7-0.
This early try seemed to kick start Thurles into action and before the end of the opening quarter they were level, a move started by a turnover from the excellent Mark Cummins saw Thurles motor their way down the field, Shane Moloney & Eoghan O’Dwyer combined well in the centre to set the platform for their attack, Scrum Half Nicky Irwin switched play down the blindside where he found Number 8 Ciaran Ryan who crashed over in the left corner, John Lillis stepped up on his return from injury and slotted the conversion excellently over the black spot for the full complement and bring Thurles level, 7-7.
Thurles continued to put the pressure on the home side, with the backs looking dangerous every time they got the ball in hand with wingers Peter Coman & Adrian Bourke having the upper hand on their opposite numbers. On two separate occasions leading up to half time, Thurles looked to be on their way to tries number 2 and 3 but for the referee to call back play for a couple of dubious decisions against Thurles, much to the relief of Charleville, as you felt a Thurles try at this stage would have opened the flood gates.
As the half neared an end, Charleville seemed to get a new lease of life following their get out of jail cards and with one of the last plays of the game, the home side slotted over a penalty in front of the posts following a high tackle from a Thurles player just outside the 22. The sides went in 10-7 at half time.
The opening 20 minutes of the second half was a scrappy affair with a lot of handling errors and scrums, both defences were as stubborn as each other as play progressed with both sides refusing to give an inch. Thurles were eventually the ones to land the first blow in the second half as Ger McCormack and Luke Kelly powered their way up the left touchline to bring the Tipp men within touching distance of the 22, following some great play from the pack, the ball went wide, a high, around the neck challenge from a Charleville player saw Thurles awarded a penalty, which Lillis slotted over to bring Thurles level once again, 10-10.
The Thurles revival and equal scoreboard didn’t last long, Charleville battled hard from the restart and despite Mark Cummins securing possession, one of the Thurles support players lost their footing while trying to protect the ball and the referee awarded a penalty for going of their feet. The Charleville place kicker slotted over the kick from almost in front of the posts to reclaim the lead with just over 10 minutes remaining on the clock.
The restart from Thurles was sliced and went straight to touch, seemingly giving the advantage to the home side with the scrum. With the tanks nearly empty, a superb scrum from McCormack, Dave Kelly & Michael Ely saw Thurles earn a free kick, Irwin tapped and off he went, bringing play well inside the Charleville half, Thurles were patient in attack with the forwards making good yards on the ground, with Shane McHugh & Paddy Phelan controlling proceedings in tight.
As play progressed inside the Charleville 22, Irwin sent the ball out to his half-back partner Aidan Dwyer, who made light work of the would-be tacklers and raced in under the posts to make the conversion attempt easier, as Lillis was receiving treatment, Dwyer added the extras himself to make it a 2 score game with only minutes remaining, 13-17.
Thurles finished the stronger and saw out the game to earn a valuable 4 points in the race for promotion. Thurles had chances from placed balls in both the first half and late in the second half which would have put a flattering gloss to the scoreboard but credit to the home side they were full credit for their losing bonus point but their failure to create chances in attack cost them as Thurles looked dangerous anytime they set off in open field.
Thurles’ have a full schedule of games leading up to the Christmas break in 3 separate Competitions, first up is 6th place Crosshaven at home this coming Sunday in the League 2.30pm kick-off, the following Sunday (11th December) see’s us at home to Waterpark in the Semi Final of the Munster Junior Plate with a 2pm kick-off and the following weekend (18th December), we travel to Waterford City for our first round of games in the Munster Junior Cup which is our last fixture of 2016. All support would be greatly appreciated by the players & management for these important fixtures.
Training continues on Wednesday & Friday Nights at 7.30pm sharp for both First and Seconds players.
Thurles Scorers: Ciaran Ryan (1 Try), Aidan Dwyer (1 Try & 1 Conversion) & John Lillis (1 Conversion & 1 Penalty).
Thurles Starting XV vs Charleville: 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. Nicky Irwin 10. Aidan Dwyer 11. Peter Coman 12. Shane Moloney 13. Eoghan O’Dwyer (c) 14. Adrian Bourke 15. John Lillis Subs Used: Shane Nugent, Tommy Connolly & Joey Kelly.
Munster Women’s Development League
Shannon v Thurles
Thurles Women's 1st XV were away to old rivals Shannon RFC on Sunday morning last. Weather conditions were mild and the pitch was in good condition.
In the opening quarter Thurles had a shaky start, spending the majority of this time in the Shannon half, however the Limerick side were unable to capitalise. In the 25th minute Thurles were awarded a penalty which was converted by Megan Callanan. With great defending from the back line and hard hits from Niamh Coman and Aisling O'Hagan Thurles went in at half time with a 0-3 lead.
Thurles re-grouped at half time and appeared once again to dominate the majority of possession in the Shannon half. Linda Ryan, Ciara Dwyer and Maria Woodlock carried well but Thurles were unable to put points on the board. Jane Ryan was introduced with 20 minutes to go, this was her debut game at senior level and it quickly became very clear that she would be a great asset to the team in the coming season. In the closing stages of the game Thurles's discipline began to deteriorate with a number of penalties awarded to the home side. The Shannon 10’s use with the boot punished the Thurles indiscipline and gradually the Limerick “Ladies” made their way into the Thurles half. After strongly defending several phases the cracks in the Thurles defence began to appear and Shannon scored a try in the far left hand corner in the dying minutes of the game. Leaving the final result 3-5 to Shannon.
Thurles women RFC remain top of the table with two very competitive games left to play. Thurles will build on this defeat and hit the ground running once again in January for their game against Richmond RFC. Training for Thurles is every Wednesday and Friday from 7:30 to 9 with new players always welcome
U18 Girls
Thurles v Highfield / Mitchelstown
The Thurles U18 Girls travelled to North Cork on Saturday to take part in a developmental blitz day with girls from Mallow, Mitchelstown and Highfield all involved. This was the first game for many of the players involved and was designed to give valuable game time to new, and experienced players alike. Conditions at Mallow RFC were ideal for rugby, and the game kicked off at 12 noon with Thurles , who had 3 guest players facing a strong looking Mitchelstown / Highfield combo side
The visitors were first to score with a well worked move from the base of a ruck with Holly O Dwyer scoring under the posts in the first of her 4 tries on the day. The home side replied with a stron run through the centre with their very impressive No * slicing through the Thurles defence to level up the scoreboard. The game was nip and tuck for the next 20 minutes or so with Thurles scoring once more from a catch and drive from Rachel Ryan’s throw in at a line-out inside the opposition 22. Kate O Dwyer was in fine form on the day and was rewarded with a try in the corner after fending off 2 would be defenders
The game really opened up for Thurles in the second half with tries coming from Megan Woodlock, Annabelle Wynn Jones, Melanie Deveraux, Emily Lane,(Mallow RFC) and 3 more from Holly O Dwyer. While the scoreline did not reflect the excellent effort put in by the Cork Girls, in what was a developmental game, it was great to see fine performances from some of the new Thurles Girls such as Cuiara Nyland, Caoimhe Wixted, Niamh Woodlock and Julia Heiden playing in their very first 15 a side rugby game. The Cork Girls were kept scoreless for most of the game, mainly due to the ferocious tackling in the centre by Aoife Flanagan and Melanie O Halloran. The future looks good for this young team who never looked like it was their first game in quite a while.
A special mention for our only U15 player available to travel on Saturday, Ciara Scanlon, who slotted in at centre for Mallow in their game against Ballina - Killaloe
New training times of 6:30 on Wednesdays and Fridays for U15s and U18s Girls, with new players always welcome
