Division 3 wins for Killarney and Tralee
MUNSTER JUNIOR LEAGUE DIVISION 3
Killarney 29 Ennis 9
KILLARNEY raced into second place in the Division 2 table with a very impressive home win against Ennis. The home side are in a rich vein of form at the moment and on this performance look like they could mount a serious challenge for promotion.
Killarney didn’t enjoy a great first half however and Ennis raced into a 9-0 lead thanks to 3 penalties from Ronan O’Halloran. Killarney grew in confidence as the half went on and Paudie Sheehan struck for a good unconverted try to leave his side 9-5 behind at half time.
The home side came out rejuvenated in the second half and completely dominated their opponents. The Killarney strength lay in their powerful pack who outmuscled their opponents.Ger Moynihan was central to everything good that Killarney had to offer, and he also got on the scoresheet with a good try. Killarney kept the pressure on throughout the game and they added further tries through Paudie Sheehan, Aaron Jones and Connie O’Leary, while Luke O’Shea put over the 3 conversions.
Bantry 13 Tralee 32
TRALEE made the long journey down to Bantry but completely blew away the hosts with a fine performance. Tralee are a side playing with confidence at the moment and it showed, as the gave a ruthless display in disposing of the Cork side.
Eoin O’Carroll, Jack Quilter, Fearghal Ó’Nuallain and Luke Mullally were Tralee’s try scorers whilst Ben O’Neill kicked three conversions and two penalties. Gareth Murphy was Bantry’s try scorer, and Andre Polivka kicked a conversion and two penalties.
The win sees Tralee move to fourth place in the J3 table, and their local derby against Killorglin will be a massive match for both sides.
Killorglin 21 Mitchelstown 29
THIS was certainly a game of two halves as Killorglin were the much better side in the first half but were completely overrun by a resurgent Mitchelstown in the second.
It was hard to see anything but a Killorglin victory early on as they played all of the positive rugby. The running and support play from Killorglin was excellent, and with their pack in complete control, the visitors had no answer to their dominance.
Killorglin’s Darragh O’Shea was in great form on his senior debut and chipped in with two of these, with Kyle Byrne touching down for their third. Luke O’Shea brought his kicking boots and slotted over the three conversions with minimum fuss Killorglin’s Rodi Healy made a trip to the sin bin with four minutes to go in the half but the home side’s defence held firm in spite of the numerical disadvantage. Mitchelstown’s lone score came from the boot of to leave the half time score Killorglin 21 Mitchelstown 3.
It was a different tale in the second half as Mitchelstown made their advantage count and struck for a try in the 45th minute through Jack Norris. Disaster struck for Killorglin in the 55th minute of the game when Healy was shown his second yellow, and then a red, as Mitchelstown began to launch some serious attacking forays into the hosts territory.
With the team down to 14 men, and indiscipline becoming an issue, Mitchelstown struck for 3 more tries through Owen Burke, Shane Molan and Denis Sheehan to seal what looked like an unlikely victory.
Killorglin will be very disappointed with the loss but will hope to bounce back when they take on Tralee on November 4.
MUNSTER WOMEN’S LEAGUE DIVISION 1
Fermoy 5 Tralee 84
TRALEE made it five wins out of five as they hammered Fermoy on their home patch last Sunday. The Tralee side now sit proudly at the top of the group standings, and they are the side that everyone fears in the division.
Tralee scored 12 tries in total with Diana O’Keeffe( 2), Sinead O’Connor (2), Noreen Murphy(2), Riona Kennedy (2), Laoise O’Driscoll (2), Ashley Sheehy and Caolainn Healy getting in on the act. O’Driscoll converted all of the tries.
Tralee have now scored a whopping 278 points in their 5 games and have conceded a mere 13.
MUNSTER U16 CONFERENCE 2
Listowel/Tralee 14 Kanturk 13
LISTOWEL/TRALEE suffered an early deficit when they fell behind to an unconverted try. Listowel/ Tralee were playing into the breeze but some great work from their forwards saw Edward O’Connor score an excellent try which Gearoid Kilgallen converted. Kanturk didn’t let this set back deter them and after scoring another unconverted try, they added a penalty on the stroke of half time to lead 13-7 at the break.
Both sides went full throttle at the start of the second half but it was Listowel/Tralee who struck first when scrum half Donnacha Fox scored a try after a brilliant sniping run. With Kilgallen adding the conversion, Listowel/Tralee led by 14-13. Listowel/Tralee continued to dominate for the remainder of the game and although there were no further scores, they fully deserved their win. MUNSTER enjoyed a 36-22 bonus point victory over Gloucester at Thomond Park last Saturday. In what was a very strange error ridden game, Munster just about held out as Gloucester put in a ferocious last 10 minutes to put Munster under some serious pressure.
Munster had a one-man advantage for the majority of the clash with Gloucester’s Danny Cipriani sent off for a high tackle on Rory Scannell just short of the half hour.
Mike Haley scored his first try for Munster with Rhys Marshall, Man of the Match Joey Carbery, Sammy Arnold and Andrew Conway also touching down, with Carbery kicking four conversions and a penalty. Carberry was excellent for Munster, and his range of passing and elusive style of play certainly endeared him to the red faithful
JJ Hanrahan was unlucky in that he came on the field with 12 minutes left to go and was on the back foot for the remainder of the game as Gloucester enjoyed their best period of the game. Hanrahan came on in the out half position as Carberry switched to full back. Hanrahan was unable to display his undoubted skill with ball in hand, but it is a promising sign for the Currow native as Munster coach van Graan continues to place his faith in him of the bench.
Munster are now in a very favourable position as they sit at the top of Pool 2 with 7 points after last week’s drawn game with the Exeter Chiefs. Munster welcome Castres to Thomond Park for the next round of the competition on Sunday, December 9.
Next Saturday Munster welcome Glasgow Warriors to Thomond Park for Round 7 of the Guinness Pro 14 league.
Meanwhile, Ultan Dillane was part of the Connacht side that were beaten by Sale Sharks in the European Challenge Cup. A hat trick of tries from Chris Ashton was instrumental in Sale’s victory.
FIXTURES
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27 Munster U-18 Conference 2
Killarney/Killorglin v Kanturk/Charleville, 11.30 Newcastle West/Estuary v Castleisland, 11.30
Munster U-16 Conference 2
Castleisland v Listowel/Tralee, 11.30 Corca Dhuibhne v Killorglin, 11.30 Killarney v Abbeyfeale, 11.30
West Munster U-14 League
Castleisland v Listowel, 11.00 Killarney v Abbeyfeale, 11.00 Tralee v Killorglin, 11.00
Girls U-18 Munster Conference A
Listowel v UL Bohs/St Marys, 11.00
Girls U-16 Munster Conference B
Listowel/Tralee v Abbeyfeale, 11.00
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28 Munster U-18 Conference 2
Abbeyfeale v Listowel, 12.00
RESULTS Munster Junior League Division 2
Castleisland 12 Youghal 21
Munster Junior League Division 3
Bantry Bay 13 Tralee 32 Killarney 29 Ennis 9 Killorglin 21 Mitchelstown 29
Women’s Munster League Division 1
Fermoy v Tralee
Munster U16 Conference 2
Kanturk 13 Listowel/Tralee 14
Girls U-18 Munster Conference A
Mallow 0 Listowel 79
Girls U-16 Munster Conference B
Mallow 25 Listowel/Tralee 58