Thurles rugby continues winning ways with a solid home win against Limerick opposition

Munster Junior Rugby League - Division 1

Thurles RFC 17

Newcastle West 14

After a weekend off last week Thurles' first 15 were back in action in the Munster Junior 1 League away in Newcastle West. This was expected to be a tough outing given the quality of the opposition who finished second in this league last year.

And if things were not difficult enough for the travelling side, two late withdrawals due to injury meant, that Thurles had to dig deep into their subs bench for this one.

A minute's silence was observed in honour of the tragic passing of a former Newcastle West player over the weekend, Thurles received the kick-off playing into a fresh breeze playing away from the clubhouse. League debutante Kieran O’Hagan, one of the late call-ups due to injury, comfortably fielded, feeding his fly half James Maher to clear the lines.

This was to be a pattern in this game with Thurles back three and a half backs comfortably dealing with the Newcastlewest Fly Half’s long kicking game and returning the ball with interest through counterattacks or well-placed clearance kicks. From the ensuing lineout, Newcastlewest had some phases but were met with good Thurles defence.

When a Newcastle attack faltered due to some great Thurles tackling Ciaran O’Hagan pounced to feed Eoghan Dwyer, moved from his usual berth in the centre to full back for the day, who sprinted clear, making 70 metres before being hauled down close to the Newcastle line. Only some desperate scrambling defence by the home side denied Thurles an opening score.

Thurles had the bit between their teeth early and were back into the home team 22 courtesy of a penalty kick into the corner.

A well-executed line-out move brought Thurles to within 5 – A couple of phases later after hard carrying by the Thurles pack, James Maher, demanding the ball from his forwards, floated a pass wide into midfield to Sonny O’Dwyer who one-on-one with his man, beat him with good footwork and accelerated in untouched under the posts to register Thurles first try on nine minutes, just reward for Thurles who were the more threatening team throughout the first half.

It took the home side 16 minutes to register their first score. A good period of sustained attacking pressure earning them a facile penalty 20 m out in front of the Thurles posts. Thurles although having coughed up a penalty would have been pleased with the stubbornness and resilience of their defence in denying the home team a try and forcing them to take their three points.

Throughout the first half, Thurles looked dangerous with the ball in hand, good phase play by the pack providing good ball to the Thurles backs and with Eoghan Dwyer and Sonny Dwyer’s ball carrying causing problems for the home team it looked like only a matter of time before Thurles scored again. A 50-22 from an excellent kick by James Maher resulted in a good lineout position in the home 22 with 30 minutes on the clock.

A good lineout and maul saw Thurles go through several phases before Sam Quinlan was stopped inches from the line, the home team clearly killing the ball to prevent the recycle with the score imminent, only for Thurles to be awarded a scrum instead. Thurles attacked well from the scrum but were again repelled, until moments later they were awarded a penalty straight in front 15m out.

Thurles opted for three points but James Maher’s kick hit the post with the relatively easy kick, this was compounded by Thurles’s inability to gather the ball rebounding from the post giving the home side much needed respite and a scrum to clear their lines.

Another penalty at the scrum further added to Thurles problems and the home team exited well downfield, winning another penalty at the ensuing lineout for alleged interference with the jumper, and pushing deep into the Thurles 22 courtesy of the breeze and big boot of their flyhalf.

A good rolling maul had Thurles reeling but again good defence kept their try line intact but at the cost of coughing up another kickable penalty. The quality and ferocity of the away teams’ defensive sets a factor in the home team choosing to take points. 7-6 at haf time.

Thurles kicked off with the aid of the breeze in the second half and again went about their business with gusto. Pinning the home team into their half for the first 10 minutes with a combination of strong defence, hard ball carrying and good tactical kicking.

During one such exchange, the home team lost possession whilst attacking in the Thurles half, playing an advantage Thurles counterattacked on the blind side, and good handling by the backs saw Luke Fogarty time his pass perfectly putting the flying Cathal Hayes loose down the right wing as the cover closed he fed inside to Sam Quinlan supporting in field who fed Hayes once more as the cover closed in receiving the ball back from Hayes as he was tackled.

Quinlan just about regathered with a juggle before he was tackled, to pop the ball up to his fellow back row forward Mark Cummins who as usual appeared out of know where to dive in for the crucial second try for Thurles.

This was Quinlan’s last act as the tank emptied, he made way for Conor Moloney, who to his credit like O’Hagan on the wing and replacement prop Dan Lee were adding to their 80 minutes already played for the second team the previous night to make massive contributions to this team effort.

Thurles were reasonably comfortable for most of the second half and a James Maher penalty in the middle of the half secured the win despite a late consolation for the hosts.

Thurles RFC: Ger McCormack, Shane Nugent, John Shaw, Colin Nolan, Luke Kelly, Mark Cummins, Peter Kinane, Sam Quinlan, Seamus Holahan, James Maher, Cathal Hayes, Sonny Dwyer, Luke Fogarty, Ciaran O’Hagan, Eoghan Dwyer.

Subs: Ciaran Murphy, Dan Lee (for J. Shaw), Noah Mellor, Conor Moloney (for Sam Quinlan), Donnacha Ryan, Peter Wall.