Tipperary Rugby: Kilfeacle’s All-Ireland Junior Cup adventure begins with a victory

Energia All Ireland Junior Cup

Kilfeacle 20 Cooke RFC 18

After last week’s win “The Boys in Blue” were at home to Cooke RFC from Belfast and were hoping to get their Energia All Ireland Junior Cup off to a winning start at Morrissey Park on Saturday last.
Kilfeacle got off to strong start when captain Kevin Kinnane set up the opportunity for Thomas Fogarty who crashed over for a try in the fifth minute which wasn’t converted

In the second quarter Cooke’s pack set up the next score when they won a penalty kick which they converted to bring the score to 5-3, and it remained like that for the remainder of a low-scoring but thoroughly enjoyable 40 minutes of rugby.
In the 49th minute Cooke won a scrum against the head and drove their hosts back and were awarded a penalty which was duly kicked to lead by 6-5.
Urged on by the crowd Kilfeacle upped their game and with 49 minutes on the clock an excellent lineout followed by an impressive rolling maul saw Bobby Russell go crashing over for Kilfeacle’s second try. Luke Heuston converted from a tight angle which meant that Kilfeacle were now back in front by 12-6.

A Luke Heuston penalty soon pushed the advantage to 15-6 for the hosts.
A flurry of substitutions soon followed for both sides. In the 61st minute a tackle deemed to be late by the referee saw Kilfeacle reduced to 14 for 10 minutes and Cooke went hunting for a try. The penalty count against Kilfeacle was starting to rise but each time Cooke turned down the opportunity to kick three points because of the previous miss. After a lot of pressure near the Kilfeacle line Cooke were awarded a penalty try and a second yellow card was brandished to the unbridled joy of the numerous travelling support. The score now read 15 points to 13.

Kilfeacle were staring down the barrel of defeat knowing that they were going to be two men down for three minutes and their opponents were in the ascendency. Cooke in their efforts to make their advantage count made some unforced errors which gave possession back to Kilfeacle, who managed to keep the ball until the first yellow card was over.
Kilfeacle were defending with great purpose and kept their foe at bay until the 65th minute when an excellent number of phases of play saw Cooke score a try in the corner. The very difficult conversion kick was missed yet Cooke now led by 18 points to 15.

Soon afterwards Kilfeacle were restored to 15 men and took the upper hand once again but there were only two minutes left in regulation time.
Roared on by a very vocal home support, Kilfeacle charged into Cooke’s 22. In the 79th minute their progress was halted illegally and Kilfeacle were presented with a very easy kick to level the score. However, captain Kevin Kinnane displayed great trust in his teammates and elected to kick to the corner to try to win the game. A deafening roar went up as the home side secured the lineout and mauled its way over the opposition’s try line and Brendan Barron emerged from the pile of bodies clutching the ball with his fist clenched in celebration. Luke Heuston’s conversion attempt grazed the wrong side of the upright. The score was now 20-18 to the Boys in Blue.

Under pressure defending their line at the death, Kilfeacle somehow survived the Cooke onslaught and there was a great roar at the referee’s final blast.
Kilfeacle’s squad: Simon Barry, Bob Purcell, Cian Carroll, Brendan Barron, Aaron O’Brien, Thomas Fogarty, Brian Barlow, Darragh Kennedy, Brian Barron, Gavin Heuston, Kevin Kinnane, Cormac Ryan, Adam Crowe, Kyle Morris, Luke Heuston, Dubhan O’Grady, Jacques Van Wyngaardt, Kevin Doyle, Keith Bourke and Fiachra O’Grady.

OFF TO RICHMOND
Next Sunday sees us travel to reigning champions and hot favourites, Richmond, in our opening league fixture in the Munster Junior League Division 1. Once again, the team and coaching staff are delighted and humbled by the numbers supporting each game and wish to thank everyone for their support.