Thurles rugby claim emphatic and much needed win over Tipp rivals Kilfeacle and District

Munster Junior League – Round 14

Thurles RFC 40

Kilfeacle RFC 10 

 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 a 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, letting 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 back row 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 made 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 scrum half, 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 tight head, 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 back row 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.