Youghal come to Castleisland and leave with the win

MUNSTER JUNIOR LEAGUE DIVISION 2

Castleisland 12 Youghal 21

CASTLEISLAND suffered their second league defeat of the campaign when Cork side Youghal came, engaged and conquered under lights at the Crageens last Saturday evening.

The result was unexpected in the sense that Youghal had lost their two previous league games and came into the game under a slight bit of pressure. Castleisland are normally a very difficult side to beat on their home patch and were looking to overturn an away defeat to Ballincollig last weekend, but ultimately they didn’t perform to their expected level on the night.

The conditions were perfect for good open rugby, and the crowd were treated to an honest game as both sides attempted to run the ball. It was pretty error ridden at times though, and Castleisland were particularly guilty of some basic handling errors when in good positions. These indiscretions would ultimately cost the home side in the finish, as Youghal travelled with an aggressive intent and relished their victory at the final whistle.

The game was a mere 30 seconds old when Youghal flanker Aaron Daly was sin binned after an early high tackle. His loss didn’t deter the visitors as they put the Castleisland defence under early pressure as their aggressive ball carrying opened up holes in their rearguard. Youghal were soon down to 13 men however when their prop forward saw yellow after 8 minutes, and the home side quickly made their numerical supremacy count. An excellent maul and drive from the Castleisland forwards saw Connie Reynolds scorch over the line for a try, and with Brian Leonard adding the conversion, they pushed into a 7-0 lead.

The lead lasted a mere 4 minutes as Youghal struck for 2 tries in the space of a minute to completely turn the game on its head. The first came after Leonard initially made a great 40 metre burst only to see his side turn over the ball in the subsequent ruck. Youghal counter attacked quickly and a lovely through kick from out half Keith McCarthy saw Scottie O’Sullivan touch down for an unconverted try. Castleisland restarted from the half way line, and within second O’Sullivan touched down once more. Their impressive centre Alan Frahill beat a number of tackles before feeding O’Sullivan who touched down under the posts. With McCarthy adding the conversion, the away side suddenly led by 12-7.

To be fair to Castleisland they didn’t let their heads drop and in the 18th minute Mikey Bawn O’Sullivan touched down in the corner to level the game ,with the try coming straight after the Youghal restart. The rest of the first half settled down to be a more mundane affair, although Castleisland’s James Culhane showed the visitors defence a clean pair of heels at times with some excellent drives. Youghal had the last score of the first half when McCarthy scored a penalty to leave them 15-12 up at the break.

Castleisland started the second half strongly with Culhane once again to the fore. They suffered a blow to their chances when their powerhouse forward Kieran Downey saw the sin bin after a late tackle on a Youghal player. Castleisland still continued to take the game to their opponents however, but a number of frustrating turnovers saw them lose possession when in promising positions.

Youghal’s outhalf McCarthy continued to impress, and his excellent left legged drop goal from 40 metres pushed his side 18-12 up in the 62nd minute. Both sides tried hard to gain territory thereafter, but with time running out the visitors prop Jason Lane saw red for a wreckless elbow into the face of a Castleisland player. Youghal continued to look the better side though, and McCarthy sealed the win with another penalty in the last minute of the game to seal a 21-12 victory for the visitors.