Kanturk out of Challenge Cup quarters
FOR the third weekend in a row it was a relatively quiet on the club rugby fields of Munster as Cup action for some took precedence over a League schedule that has been unhindered to this point.
Having said that there was just one local side in Cup action last Sunday as Kanturk continued their bid to get to grips with life back in junior rugby.
Cup action saw the Knocknacolon side take to the field against last year’s victors Kilfeacle and District in a Munster Junior Clubs Challenge Cup quarter-final, and while the North Cork club put in a good 80-minute shift they ultimately went down by just four points, 18-14, to the favourites for yet more silverware.
Kanturk started this one much the better and led by 7-0 early on thanks to a try from Ciaran Boyce and a conversion from Conor Cremin. The holders fought back with tries from Diarmuid McCarthy and Cormac O’Donoghue as well as a conversion from Jamie Heuston to lead by 12-7 at the interval.
The game swung back again after the break when Dathai Fitzpatrick went over again for the Cork side with Cremin again slotting over the extras.
This one looked to be going the way of Kanturk however a brace of late penalties from Heuston sealed the deal for Kilfeacle. Kanturk will be disappointed with the concession of the penalties which is something they will need to work on going forward.
Next weekend will be a mid-table battle between Kanturk and Clanwilliam at Clanwilliam Park next Sunday. Kanturk have just one league win so far this season so games like this one are all the more important for the Duhallow side. Clanwilliam have already won three from five so they will go into Sunday’s clash confident of making Kanturk’s season even more difficult.
The only local side to take to the field in the league last week was promoted side Mitchelstown as they faced up to title chasing Clonakilty in the J2. This was another tight affair with Clon taking the spoils of victory by 17-13. Mitchelstown are finding life tough in the middle tier after coming up last year however despite the loss the losing bonus point is well earned and could be crucial come season’s end.
Mitchelstown had home advantage in this one but they were unable to stop Ger McCarthy going over for a brace with Cosmin Rosu adding the victor’s third and final try. Mark Purcell added a conversion which all proved to be enough on the day. Mitchelstown to their credit battled hard all game and had one try to cheer on the day – from Josh Evans. Two penalties and a conversion from Patrick Molloy secured the bonus point and helped lift a tough season.
There are two games in the J2 involving local sides with both Mallow and Mitchelstown entertaining at their respective home grounds.
Mallow have had a poor start to the 2017/18 campaign with just one win from three however this weekend will afford the men from St Joseph’s Road the opportunity to rise up the table as they welcome bottom side Killarney to Mallow. Mallow will need to win this game and win it well if they are extract themselves from an early season relegation battle.
Mitchelstown sit one spot above Mallow in 10th place and they welcome second placed Crosshaven to their home pitch. Obviously, this will be a tough task for Mitchelstown however if they can take anything from the game it will help their efforts of staying in the J2 this season.
In the J3, Charleville and Fermoy represent the area next weekend with Charleville at home to Tralee while Fermoy make the trip to Moneygourney to take on Douglas-Carrigaline.
Charleville are currently in fourth place after starting with three wins from four with their opponents Tralee sitting one stop back in fifth. Fermoy are another place back in sixth and they will target bottom side Douglas-Carrigaline looking to move up the table closer to the promotion battle.
Next weekend will afford all the north Cork sides in action the opportunity to improve their respective league positions but with the excepetion of one or two encounters this may well be another tough weekend for Duhallow and Avondhu sides.
FIXTURES
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 26 AT 2.30PM Munster J-League Division 1
Clanwilliam v Kanturk
Munster J-League Division 1
Mallow v Killarney Mitchelstown v Crosshaven
Munster J-League Division 3
Charleville v Tralee Douglas-Carrigaline v Fermoy