Kanturk face trip to Skibb this weekend

IT was a very quiet weekend on the Munster Junior rugby front with just one local side seeing their competitive game going to post.

Kanturk did manage to squeeze in a challenge game with Kinsale RFC and the north Cork side showed just how competitive they are – even with nothing on the line, by seeing off the sea side club by 40-5.

The Duhallow side will face a stronger test next weekend as they head back down west to this time take on Skibbereen in the Munster J1 league.

Kanturk didn’t blow the cobwebs off in their opening league fixture when they lost out heavily to Newcastle West in Round 1 which means at this stage they are joint bottom – somewhere they will be keen to move away from this weekend.

Skibb have started their campaign with two wins from two and are looking all the way good contenders for the title so there is little doubting that Kanturk have a big test in front of them this weekend if they are to get their first points on the board.

The only local side that made it into action last weekend was Muskerry as they took on Thurles in the Junior Clubs Challenge Shield. The Ballyanly side went into this one after a positive start to their league and looked good for long stages of this one but they succumbed to a last-minute penalty to the Tipperary side – something that happened them on more than one occasion in the 2018-18 season.

This one looked like it was heading to extra time with the scores tied 22-22 but John Lillis broke the deadlock and the Muskerry hearts with his late penalty to take the win and a place in the next round of this prestigious cup competition.

Tries from Aidan Kelleher, Sean O’Riordan and Jonathan Buckley set Muskerry up wells with the latter bagging two conversions and a penalty however it wasn’t to be as a brace of tries from Ciaran Ryan and one from Eoghan O’Dwyer were added to Lillis’ brace of penalties and his pair of conversions.

Muskerry will head back into league action this Sunday when they face up to north Cork’s Fermoy. Currently Muskerry sit in seventh with Fermoy four places back in 11th on the same tally of four points. Both sides have a win and a loss on board from their opening two respective fixtures so this one will be a major jump forward for one side leaving the other side firmly in their wake.

Fermoy will head into next week’s clash after giving J2 table toppers Mallow a walkover last weekend in the Munster Junior Clubs Challenge shield. Fermoy will focus hard on this clash as they look to get one over Muskerry as the sides battle for mid-table superiority.

Muskerry have home advantage here so with little to choose between them to this point perhaps that will be the telling factor this Sunday.

Charleville had a weekend off last Sunday but are back in action this weekend with a home game against Ballincollig. Both sides recorded one win from two in their opening pair of games so this Sunday’s action will separate the sides from their mid-table positions of ninth and 10th – Charleville sit in the lower position.

Charleville have shown they are well capable of competing at this level and will be desperate to make the most of home town advantage – a tough test awaits but Charleville are well capable of taking the points on offer.

Last but not least in the J2 from a local standpoint is the upcoming fixture between table toppers Mallow and second placed Kinsale. We may be just a couple of weeks into this season but this game may well go a long way to deciding who stays in the title race and who does not. Recent history has shown that the side that wins the J2, even the side that comes second, tend to lose no more than one game a year so a loss this early on would heap pressure on the side that comes out on the wrong side of this particular clash.

Mallow will be at home this Sunday and they will be anxious to make sure their good start doesn’t come to a grinding halt in front of their very supportive fans. This is a huge day for both sides who will feel they are in with a genuine chance of gaining promotion in 2019.

In the J3, Mitchelstown will make the trip to Kerry to take on Killorglin looking to take back the top spot in the third tier. Mitchelstown come into this one sitting second in the table – level on points with table toppers Tralee. Killorglin sit sixth but just four points behind which means there is little to choose between these sides when home advantage is factored in for the Kerry men.

A difficult weekend ahead for all the local sides but securing good league spots for all should encourage every side to rise above the challenges that await.

FIXTURES SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21 at 2.30pm

Munster J-League Division 1

Skibbereen v Kanturk

Munster J-League Division 2

Muskerry v Fermoy Mallow v Kinsale Charleville v Ballincollig

Munster J-League Division 3

Killorglin v Mitchelstown