Kilfeacle rugby club look forward to mouth-watering home clash with Cork Constitution

Clonakilty 12 Kilfeacle 20

Kilfeacle got back to winning ways with an away win at Clonakilty in the Munster Junior Rugby League. This game also doubled up as a Junior Clubs Challenge Cup game, and Kilfeacle will now host league leaders Richmond in the semi-final.

Kilfeacle, who had the advantage of a light breeze for the first half, started the game well and immediately pushed Clonakilty back into their own 22. Directly from the kick off they were awarded a penalty, which they were unlucky not to convert.

The Tipperary team didn’t let this miss hamper their enthusiasm, and buoyed by a large travelling support kept hunting for the opening score of the game.

This finally came in the 13th minute when Kevin Doyle kicked a penalty. This was as far as the visiting side advanced, as they met the well-marshalled Clonakilty defensive wall.

As the half progressed, Clonakilty pushed further and further into their opponents’ territory and managed to put together some threatening attacks.

Sean Corbett put the home side ahead with a try after 25 minutes, which was converted for Clonakilty by Eoin Downey to make the score 7-3.

Kilfeacle’s forwards were coming to terms with their opponents and the conditions. The forwards - Simon Barry, Ricky Whitney, James Ryan, Cormac Ryan, Bob Purcell, Brian Barlow, Flan Doody, Paddy Finnan, Darragh Kennedy, Brian Barron, Luke Ashmore, Jack McLoughlin and Kevin Kinnane - laid the foundations for a badly- needed and hard-earned victory.

Darren Lowry replied with a try for Kilfeacle, which Kevin Doyle was unlucky not to convert. With the score reading 7-8, the Kilfeacle backs - Jack Armshaw, Gavin Heuston, Darren Lowry, Ben White, Killian Noonan, Dubhan O’Grady, Kevin Doyle, Timmy Clarke and Keith Bourke - were immense with their attacking and defensive prowess.

In the last minute of the first half Niall Barrett finished a fine team move for Clonakilty to score a try in the corner. Eoin Downey was unable to convert but Clonakilty had wrestled back the lead from Kilfeacle, even though the consensus from the very vocal travelling supporters was that their team were playing the better of the two.

The half-time whistle sounded with the scoreboard showing 12-8 in favour of Clonakilty.

From the restart, Kilfeacle immediately took the game to Clonakilty and gained territorial advantage, and within 15 minutes were back in front with a converted try. This try was scored and converted by Kevin Doyle.

The score was now 12-15 to “the Boys in Blue”. Clonakilty were finding it very difficult to retain the ball for any long periods and when they did, they were unable to push into the Kilfeacle half.

In the 66th minute, on a rare occasion that Clonakilty were in the Kilfeacle half, they were awarded a penalty and elected to kick for goal to draw level. This attempt fell short and this was the nearest Clonakilty came to scoring in the second half.

The rest of the game was a war of attrition and was played in the Clonakilty half, with Kilfeacle having the upper hand.

Clonakilty just could not cope with the ball-carrying skills of Kevin Kinnane, Jack McLaughlin, Brian Barlow, Bob Purcell and Cormac Ryan. Cormac is currently in a rich vein of form and is playing some of his best rugby to date.

In the 73rd minute a long clearance from Clonakilty landed in the arms of Kevin Doyle, who had a very impressive game playing at full back. Kevin sliced through the onrushing Clonakilty defence and from the resulting attack Kilfeacle and District seized their chance and Killian Noonan scored a third try to seal the victory. The conversion attempt was missed.

Kilfeacle continued to attack for the final minutes but were unable to score the bonus point try. The final scoreline of 20-12 in favour of the visiting side didn’t reflect how dominant Kilfeacle and District were in the second half.

After the game, Kilfeacle coach Conor Keyes said, “We are delighted with the win and the manner in which it was achieved. We needed this win.

“We have had some major setbacks due to injuries of late so it was great to see the return of players like Luke Ashmore and the emergence of some young players in the shape of Bob Purcell and Flan Doody. I also thank Clonakilty for a hard-fought but sporting match.

“Our next outing is a mouth-watering Munster Junior Cup clash at home on the Hill against Cork Constitution on this Sunday February 12 at 2pm”.

The team as ever are proud and humbled by the amount of support they receive and hope that their supporters will continue to come along and support the team for their remaining fixtures.