Kilfeacle and Thurles will contest Garryowen Cup final in Tipperary

Fethard 10 Kilfeacle 64

The Kilfeacle side that stepped onto the field for the Garryowen Cup semi-final against Fethard was once again much changed from the team that played in the previous round’s win against Clonmel. With a number of players unavailable for selection due to a number of different reasons, many players were again playing out of position. Once again, this provided the opportunity for new and fringe players to stake a claim for a first team place.

The game marked a special occasion for the Heuston family with three brothers - Gavin, Luke and Jamie - starting together for their club for the first time.

Fethard started with the aid of the breeze and with a sense of urgency and had the better of the earlier exchanges. In the early stages Kilfeacle’s set-pieces, scrums and lineouts were misfiring, which was causing concern to both management and fans alike and giving Fethard a foothold in the game.

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This wasn’t surprising, considering the amount of positional and personnel changes and it took the first 10 minutes for the team to find its rhythm. However, when they did they played a mighty tune and put in an excellent performance.
The first score came in the 10th minute when Jacques van Wyngaardt finished off an excellent team move for a try. Luke Heuston was unlucky against the strong breeze with his conversion attempt.

The Kilfeacle pack, which consisted of Cian Carroll, Thomas Delaney, Simon Barry, Cormac Ryan, Robert Noonan, Gavin McCormack, Bryan McLaughlin and Bob Purcell, made the adjustments that needed to be made and to their credit for the rest of the game they had the upperhand on their counterparts. In the 21st minute Killian Noonan added Kilfeacle’s second try when he beat three players to touch down. Luke Heuston added the two points and Kilfeacle now led 12 – 0.

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Five minutes later Fethard opened their scoring with a well-taken penalty. In the 31st minute Jamie Heuston collected the ball in his own 22 and skipped past a number of tackles before offloading to Kelan O’Connor in the opposition’s 22, and Kelan evaded all pursuers to score under the posts. Luke Heuston added the two points and Kilfeacle had raced into a 19-3 lead.

In the 40th minute Jacques van Wyngaardt scored his second and Kilfeacle’s fourth try. Luke Heuston’s conversion was the last kick of the half and the score was 26-3 in favour of Kilfeacle.

Fethard were hoping that they could turn things around in the second half but the Kilfeacle backs of Gavin Heuston, Luke Heuston, Killian Noonan, Keith Bourke, Jacques van Wyngaardt, Muiri Lambe and Jamie Heuston were hungry for more. In the 42nd minute Luke Heuston scored and converted a try to dash any hopes the home side had of staging a comeback. The score was now 33-3.

After 47 minutes Jacques van Wyngaardt once again breached the Fethard rearguard and split the defence to score a try under the posts. Luke Heuston converted and the score was 40 points to 3. As the second half progressed Kilfeacle made several changes to give all squad members some valuable game time.

In the 56th minute Kilfeacle’s Jacques van Wyngaardt, top try scorer in last year’s league division one, scored his fourth try after going on a fantastic solo run that saw him burst through Fethard’s defensive line and finish expertly under the posts. Luke Heuston converted and Kilfeacle and District were 47-3 ahead.

However, they were by no means finished their scoring yet. Bobby Purcell, who had an excellent game at number eight, crashed over the line in the 62nd minute and Luke Heuston added another two points to bring the score to 54-3. Kilfeacle’s Killian Noonan scored his second try in the 69th minute, with the conversion attempt narrowly missed.

Fethard, to their credit, never gave up and after many phases of sustained pressure scored a try under the posts which was converted, to bring the score to 59-10.

A try scored by Ben Farrelly in the 79th minute, which wasn’t converted, was the last score of the game.

Kilfeacle’s next match is the final of this competition against Thurles RFC on a date, time and venue to be confirmed.

This is expected to be a titanic encounter, and Kilfeacle will need to have the club on an even keel, with everyone back in their usual positions and performing at their best to take anything from this game.

Kilfeacle: Cian Carroll, Thomas Delaney, Simon Barry, Cormac Ryan, Robert Noonan, Gavin McCormack, Bryan McLaughlin, Bob Purcell, Gavin Heuston, Luke Heuston, Killian Noonan, Keith Bourke, Jacques van Wyngaardt, Muiri Lambe, Jamie Heuston, Thomas Peters, Adam Farrelly, Darragh Sheehy, Paddy Finnan, Kelan O’Connor, Ben Farrelly and Shane Farrell.