Tipperary Rugby: Cormac Ryan plays major part in Kilfeacle win over Abbeyfeale

Munster Junior League

Kilfeacle & District 25 Abbeyfeale 7

On Sunday last in Morrissey Park the weather was cold, wet and windy but the atmosphere was scalding in the cauldron of Munster Junior League rugby. 

Kilfeacle played against the wind for the first half. Abbeyfeale started with the elements at their backs and the vast majority of the first 15 minutes were played in the middle half of the pitch. In the 5th and 10th minutes Abbeyfeale had two long-range penalty attempts that were wide of the mark.

 In the 15th minute Kilfeacle’s Luke Heuston kicked a penalty against the strong wind to open the scoring at 3-0 in favour of Kilfeacle. During the first 20 minutes Kilfeacle were getting a lot of joy in the lineout setpieces and Abbeyfeale were doing better in the scrums. In the 21st minute Abbeyfeale were awarded a scrum for a knock- on by Kilfeacle inside the Kilfeacle 22. Four scrums later Abbeyfeale were awarded a penalty try for repeated infringements. Kilfeacle’s coaches made a substitution and a number of positional changes within the pack that brought the scrums to a more even contest and nullified Abbeyfeale’s best attacking option.

It was only in the final 10 minutes of the half that Kilfeacle managed to have sustained pressure in the opposition’s half. In the 38th minute all their possession and territorial advantage paid off when, after a number of good phases involving all the team, they finished with a try in the corner scored by Killian Noonan. 

At the interval  the home side led 8-7.

After a quick break due to the poor weather,  Abbeyfeale started the second half well and spent the majority of the first 20 minutes   in the Kilfeacle half. However, they were now having the same difficulties as their opponents experienced in the first half. 

After 20 minutes Kilfeacle’s pack got back on top and started to create platforms for the backs to gain ground. Some excellent astute kicking from the hand by Luke Heuston brought and kept Kilfeacle in the Abbeyfeale 22. In the 70th minute an excellent lineout claim by Brian Barlow started a spell of play that ended with Cormac Ryan (Minor), a definite candidate for man of the match, crashing over in the corner to score Kilfeacle’s second try, and even after the missed conversion Kilfeacle led 13-7.

In the 74th minute another excellent lineout involving Ben White and Rares Stoica set up the platform for Cormac Ryan  to hit the line at speed. He sprinted through the Abbeyfeale 22 untouched to score under the posts. Luke Heuston quickly tapped over the conversion as he and his team mates went in search of another try to seal a bonus point victory. The score was now 20–7 in favour of Kilfeacle.

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The hosts set about their task with some vigour, as the remainder of the game saw them pummelling their opponents. In the 79th minute a darting, jinking run by Fiachra O’Grady saw him stopped just centimetres short of the  try line. The ball was secured by Cormac Ryan and recycled quickly by Gavin Heuston to the onrushing Kevin Doyle. Kevin finished in the corner to score the bonus point try to wrap up the 25-7 victory. 

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 them for their next game, which is an away clash with Skibbereen on this Saturday, November 12.

Kilfeacle’s squad:

Adam O’Connell, James Ryan Salmon, Paddy Finnan, Jack McLaughlin, Brian Barron, Brendan Barron, Brian Barlow, Diarmuid O’Donnell, Ben White, Cormac Ryan Minor, Gavin Heuston, Luke Heuston, Darren Lowry, Kelan O’Connor, Rares Stoica, Robert Noonan, Killian Noonan, JJ Cooney, Simon Barry, Fiachra O’Grady and Kevin Doyle.