Tonic for Tipperary rugby as Kilfeacle are crowned champions of Munster Junior League

Kilfeacle 35 Muskerry 5

All Kilfeacle had to do last Sunday was secure victory to be crowned champions of the Munster Junior Rugby League Division One.

However, when the opponents were Muskerry who, at the start of the day knew that if they lost they would be relegated, it had the potential to be a tough assignment.

It was bitterly cold and wet on Sunday. The weather conditions were to have a huge impact on the game, making it a very stop-start affair with many forced and unforced handling errors. The visiting side had the advantage of a strong breeze for the first half.

Kilfeacle started the game well and scored a try from the kick-off with only two minutes on the clock. Kevin Kinane collected the kick-off and burst straight through the Muskerry defence, who were caught cold.

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He was finally brought down just outside Muskerry’s 22 but not before he offloaded the ball to the onrushing Darren Lowry. Darren sprinted to elude the chasing pack and offloaded to Ricky Whitney. Ricky found his team mate Thomas Fogarty, who was stopped just short of the line. Danny Lambe, Rian Doody, Gavin McCormack and Adam Farrelly all took turns but met with a very stout Muskerry defence.

The decision was made to spin the ball out among the backs. Gavin Hueston fed the ball back to his brother Luke who fed the ball out to the third Heuston brother, Jamie, who sidestepped one defender before offloading to the onrushing Jacques van Wyngaardt, who touched down under the posts.

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Luke Heuston knows how difficult it is kicking against such a strong wind and 30 seconds later the home side’s conversion attempt sailed between the posts to put Kilfeacle 7-0 ahead.

Even though Kilfeacle were playing against the strong wind and driving rain they were having the lion’s share of possession and moving the ball with speed.

In the tenth minute Kilfeacle were on the attack when Jacques van Wyngaardt got injured. Muskerry turned over the ball and utilised the space left by the injured player to score in the corner against the run of play. The conversion attempt from the touchline was well wide of its mark. This try reduced the deficit to 2 points, 7-5 and also silenced the very large home support.
Maybe, just maybe, Muskerry had come to spoil the party. As the half wore on Kilfeacle pushed further and further into their opponents’ territory and managed to put together some threatening attacks.

But a combination of good defending and terrible conditions meant that “the boys in blue” just couldn’t find that next score and everyone was getting anxious and tensions were rising.

In the 39th minute their second try came after a prolonged spell of pressure. Darren Lowry fed Kevin Doyle, who in turn brought Jamie Heuston into play. Jamie Heuston, who was a contender for man of the match, switched the direction of attack and found Ben Farrelly, who burst past two defenders into the Muskerry 22.

The Muskerry defence was at sixes and sevens when the ball was offloaded to Muiri Lambe, who hit the line at speed and brought two defenders with him as he touched down under the posts. Luke Heuston found the target against the wind for the conversion attempt. This was the last score of the half, with Kilfeacle holding a lead of 14 points to 5.


At half-time the Kilfeacle management team made their intentions clear that although the elements were with them in the second half, the result was not a foregone conclusion. The hunt for the win was on and potentially it would be the result that would secure the league for the third time in the club’s history, adding to previous triumphs in 1994/95 and 2019/20, and cement this team’s place in Kilfeacle history.

From the restart, Kilfeacle immediately took the game to Muskerry and gained territorial advantage and were camped inside Muskerry’s 22. The second half became a war of attrition, with the unstoppable force colliding with the immovable object. In the 55th minute the majestic Jamie Heuston created something out of nothing and went on one of his trademark mazy runs. He entered the opponents’ 22 and drew two defenders before supplying a sublime pass to Kevin Doyle.

Kevin skipped along the touchline line before touching down in the corner. The conversion was as spectacular as the try. Luke Heuston, from the sideline, sent his kick into the stratosphere and well wide of the posts. He then stood and watched as his kick sailed on the wind to drop over the crossbar, and celebrated by a crescendo of noise from the delighted home support. This try brought the score to 21-5 in favour of Kilfeacle.

For the next 18 minutes it seemed like an inevitable truth that Kilfeacle would score the fourth elusive try that would earn them the bonus point win and capture the league for them. It seemed so to everyone but those wearing the Muskerry colours. The list of nearly scored and almosts over the 18 minutes is seemingly endless and includes decisions such as held up, not grounded, last pass was forward, short, and so on.

The defensive display by the Muskerry team was nothing short of spectacular. It seemed that they had denied Kilfeacle achieving what at half-time seemed inevitable, a bonus point win. That was until the three Heuston boys, Gavin, Luke and Jamie, combined to send the latter in under the posts to notch up Kilfeacle’s fourth try and the bonus point. Luke Heuston added the two points and kept his 100% accuracy display from the kicking tee on the day.
The score was now 28-5 and Muskerry were gallantly hanging on.


However, Kilfeacle had kept the best till last. The move was started by James Ryan, Diarmuid O’Donnell, Simon Barry, Cormac Ryan and Ben White making the hard yards before calling the backs into action. Each of the backs Gavin Heuston, Luke Heuston, Darren Lowry, Keith Bourke, Jamie Heuston and Kevin Doyle received the ball, made yards and drew the tackler before finding a team mate. Ben Farrelly was the last Kilfeacle man to receive the ball but he still had ten metres to travel and two men to beat. With all his team mates, one of them his brother, urging him on and every Kilfeacle supporter cheering him on, it seemed inevitable that the young man would score and score he did. As Luke Heuston placed the ball on the tee the referee announced that the game was over. All that was left to do was for Luke to keep his 100% kicking record on the day.

This he did. Kilfeacle had won 35-5. The wait was over. Kilfeacle and District RFC were Munster Junior 1 champions. The celebrations began!

Kilfeacle’s next game is a tough away game against Thurles. We know that our boys will give everything they have to the cause and not be left wanting, and what more can we ask for. 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.

Kilfeacle’s squad: 1 Adam Farrelly, 2 Richard Whitney, 3 Daniel Lambe, 4 Thomas Fogarty, 5 Adam Crowe, 6 Rian Doody, 7 Gavin McCormack, 8 Kevin Kinane, 9 Gavin Heuston, 10 Luke Heuston, 11 Jacques van Wyngaardt, 12 Darren Lowry, 13 Muiri Lambe, 14 Kevin Doyle, 15 Jamie Heuston, 16 James Ryan, 17 Diarmuid O’Donnell, 18 Simon Barry, 19 Cormac Ryan, 20 Ben White, 21 Keith Bourke and 22 Ben Farrelly.