Kilfeacle RFC defeat Thurles in Mansergh Cup

On Sunday the 27th of September “The Boys in Blue” were at home again facing a Thurles side in the Mansergh Cup semi-final.

As the game progressed Kilfeacle lost some more players due to injury so new players had the chance to shine as valuable lessons were learnt. Kilfeacle started well and had a lot of the early play and a penalty scored by Timmy Clarke in the 3rd minute settled the early nerves.

Two quick penalties in the 12th and 14th minutes saw Thurles take the lead, 6 points to 3. Kilfeacle’s pack then secured a great lineout and a rolling maul saw them travel 20 metres before being halted. The ball was picked by Gavin Heuston to run in to score a try which was converted by Timmy Clarke. Score was now 10 points to 6 in favour of Kilfeacle.

An uncharacteristic mistake by Kilfeacle saw Thurles presented with another kickable penalty which was duly dispatched.
In the 38th minute after a great team effort, Kilfeacle scored an unconverted try touched down by Diarmuid O’Donnell. Approaching the 40th minute mark the game was in the mix and Kilfeacle had a man in the bin for repeated infringements. Thurles used the extra man advantage well and 6 phases of play later and in the final play of the half were over for an unconverted try. The half-time score line read 15-14 to the home side.

With just 2 minutes of the second half gone a dominant lineout by Kilfeacle saw Diarmuid O’Donnell break forward and touch the ball down for his second try. Timmy Clarke saw his conversion sail narrowly wide and Kilfeacle now had a 6 point lead.
On the 60th minute mark Kilfeacle’s next try followed a similar pattern with Kilfeacle’s pack having the upper-hand and providing the platform for Kevin Kinnane to touch down Kilfeacle’s 4th try. Gavin Heuston was unlucky not to add the points.
Some forced and unforce changes saw Kilfeacle bring on some more substitutions and in doing so, for a while, handed the impetus back to Thurles who to their credit grabbed it with both hands and scored a very stylish team try in the 64th minute, which was converted.

The score was now 25 to 21 and only a single score separated the two sides in what was a very exciting game. Kilfeacle were finishing the stronger and in the last 10 minutes added on 2 more very similar tries one scored by Kevin Kinnane and converted by Gavin Heuston in the 74th minute and another by Brian McLaughlin in the 78th minute which wasn’t converted. The final score was 37 points to 21 for Kilfeacle and District RFC.

After the game, player coach for Kilfeacle, William Staunton said, “We are delighted with the win but Thurles made us work for it! We are trying to develop new combinations and new players up through from the underage ranks. Some younger players are really starting to catch the eye and starting to push for starting positions, which is badly needed as we have suffered some injuries.”