Tipperary club qualifies for Garryowen Cup final after big win

Garryowen Cup Semi-Final

Kilfeacle and District RFC 24

Scariff RFC 12

On Sunday last, Kilfeacle and District RFC played Scariff RFC in Clarisford Park, Killaloe for their meeting in the Garryowen Cup Semi-Final and came out on top on a double scores score line.

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 home side started with the aid of the breeze and started with a sense of urgency but were immediately pushed back into their own half and surprisingly Kilfeacle had the better of the earlier exchanges.

However, in the early stages of the game Kilfeacle’s set pieces, scrums and lineouts, were misfiring which was causing concern to both management and fans alike. It was a misfiring lineout which provided a gilt-edged opportunity in the 24th minute which Scariff gladly seized upon to score under the posts.

This try was converted and Scariff had opened the scoring to lead 7-0. The pack on the day which consisted of Brian Barlow, Ben White, Adam O’Connell, Brian Barron, Simon Barry, Diarmuid O’Donnell, Darragh Kennedy and Paddy Finnan made the adjustments that needed to made and to their credit for the rest of the game had the upper hand on their counterparts.

This performance was a credit to these players when you take into consideration that six of these eight players would be most comfortable playing in either of the prop positions.

The last ten minutes of the first half saw Kilfeacle camped in their opposition's 22. The forwards were now providing the backs with better platforms to move the ball. The backs consisting of Jack McLaughlin, Gavin Heuston, Killian Noonan, Timmy Clarke, Ryan Renihan, Rares Stoica and Bobby Noonan were now starting to move the ball with more efficiency and with better results with a score looking imminent.

During this period of the game Scariff’s defending was to be admired and it was only during the last play of the first half that Jack McLaughlin, playing a captain's role, managed to score under the posts. Timmy Clarke scored the conversion which meant that the score at half time was seven points apiece and the game was a knife edge.

Kilfeacle started the second half with more purpose and looked the better of the two teams in this period. After 14 minutes they once again breached the Scariff rear-guard when Darragh Kennedy split the defence to score a try under the posts.

Timmy Clarke converted and the score was now 14-7. As the second half progressed Kilfeacle and District started to dominate and began to look menacing with some sustained possession and good phases of play.

In the 56th minute Kilfeacle were having the better of the exchanges and Brian Barlow went on a fantastic solo run which saw him burst through Scariff’s defensive line and draw the last tackler before providing a sublime pass to the on-rushing Killian Noonan who still had a lot to do but finished expertly to score under the posts.

Timmy Clarke converted and Kilfeacle and District were starting to pull away. The weather then took a marked turn for the worse and this had a huge impact on the game with both sides making lots of handling errors.

Scariff secured a foothold in the game during this time and to their credit in the 74th minute they scored a try in the corner but were unable to convert the score to 21-12. With six minutes remaining Kilfeacle were starting once again to win the important duels in the middle of the field and were building up great phases of play.

A penalty scored by Timmy Clarke in the 78th minute ended the game as a contest and was the last score of the game. The referee sounded the final whistle the score was a victory to Kilfeacle and District by 24-12.

Kilfeacle and District’s next match is the opening round of the Munster Junior league away to Newcastle West on Sunday 2nd of October at 2.30pm.

This is expected to be a titanic encounter and Kilfeacle and District 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.

Newcastle West are the current league champions and will be relishing the clash. Kilfeacle and District hope that everyone will row in behind the team and support the players, coaches and backroom staff by coming to support the team.