Depleted Kilkenny fall to defeat in Leinster League

Last Saturday saw a return to Leinster League rugby for Kilkenny J1 and J2s.

The disappointment of having the previous week’s fixture against Dundalk postponed put Kilkenny at a disadvantage, with no post-Christmas run-out before facing League leaders Monkstown.

The game turned out to be a devastating loss, one which some maintained is the largest ever losing margin for a Kilkenny First XV.

Firstly, Kilkenny went into the game without the services of 11 frontline senior players, this included Simon O’Hara, David O’Connor, Gary Dunne, Roy Stanley, Joe Manuel and Podge Mahon.

Additionally, due to Covid-related postponements Kilkenny were almost seven weeks without a competitive fixture.

To make things worse, the Monkstown side contained 12 players who have represented Ireland at some level. These included former Connacht back Danny Riordan, ex-Leinster A players Cormac Brennan, John Dever and Steve McHugh.

A formidable opposition for any team, but against a side missing 11 front liners it must be put into perspective that Kilkenny were facing an uphill battle from the beginning.

Still Kilkenny managed to field a strong side.

The front five in the pack contained Conor Dempsey, Ben Devlin, Drew Phelan, Liam Phelan, Tadgh Butler, while the back row composed of Shane O’Riordan, Wes Carter and youngster Matt Hogan, who was making his first start for the First XV.

In the backs the half back pairing of Ciaran Sutton and Liam Caddy started as a new combination, this saw Jake McDonald move to no 12 beside his cousin Aiden McDonald.

The back three was Conor Walsh, former Irish youth Sean Moran and Jack Walsh at fullback.

From the very beginning, the quality of opposition was clear as they came in wave after wave. After seven minutes Kilkenny were 6-0 down due to two penalties that were conceded as a result of relentless pressure from Monkstown.

The truth be told, it was obvious to everyone in attendance that the hosts were in for a very, very tough day, but despite the constant pressure, Kilkenny maintained concentration and never gave in.

Monkstown opened up and scored 17 unanswered points in the first half, leaving the half time score 23-0.

In the opening 40 minutes Kilkenny were further compounded with injuries to both Shane O’Riordan (shoulder) and Matt Hogan (ankle), taking the season tally of unavailable players to an unprecedented 13 players.

If the first half was an onslaught, the second was to be much worse, in a period of 20 minutes Kilkenny conceded five tries.

This was not simply down to a Kilkenny capitulation, it was down to a number of factors.

Rusty players due to a lack of competitive fixtures, a number of players struggling for fitness following recent illnesses, missing players and the sheer quality of the opposition.

The Kilkenny players tried their damndest to keep Monkstown at bay, but simply could not contend with their quality, size, fitness and brevity on execution of their game plan.

It was as clean a performance that has been ever seen by a visiting side to Foulkstown, in fact they were a class act to watch, with substitutes having significant impacts.

Credit to Kilkenny, they never dropped their heads and battled to the bitter end.

Each player gave it everything, no one in a Kilkenny shirt could be accused of throwing in the towel.

Players like Wes Carter, Liam Caddy, the Walsh Brothers and many more gave their all, but their efforts were in vain.

Kilkenny’s stand out performer was Conor Dempsey, who put in a serious shift and was rewarded with Kilkenny’s only try of the game in the 75th minute. However, another worrying injury was sustained in the second half, with Aiden McDonald succumbed to a facial injury, increasing the casualty list to 14 players.

It is turning into a difficult season for the side but they are a resilient bunch, with plenty of experience to steer the ship to safety.

The impending return of David O’Connor, Roy Stanley and Garry Dunne will be a big boost and will strengthen the side.

The second team were also in action and they put in a super performance against the same opposition.

They led for most of the game but a late Monkstown score pipped them leaving the final score 21-19.

Coach John Buckley will be frustrated with the loss, his team deserved to win, but could not hold out.

Credit must go to the entire team who fought to the end but could not get the decisive score to regain the lead.

Again, factors must be taken into account, some bizarre refereeing decisions went against them, but they had opportunities to take a win.

For Kilkenny Darragh Morrissey, Rob Boyd, Alan McIntyre and Ryan Hogg were the stand out performers.

Both Kilkenny sides will travel to Seapoint on Saturday afternoon for the next round of the Leinster League where the two teams will be aiming to get their season back on track after a disappointing weekend results-wise.