Heavy defeat for Castleisland to visitors Kinsale

MUNSTER JUNIOR LEAGUE DIVISION 2

Castleisland 0 Kinsale 33

CASTLEISLAND stay firmly rooted at the base of Division 2 after a five-try beating from third placed Kinsale at the Crageens last Sunday.

The visitors travelled with a much bigger and more powerful side and when they carried the ball in open play, they had them in all sorts of trouble. At least four of the five Kinsale tries came from direct lines of running, and the Castleisland defence didn’t have the bulk to cope with the marauding west Cork side’s physicality.

The strange thing about the game was that Castleisland had Kinsale under all sorts of pressure for periods of the game. What they lacked was a game changer, a powerful runner that could break the gain line and make yardage against a teak tough Kinsale rearguard.

Kinsale had plenty of these, and with their scrum giving the Castleisland pack a torrid time all afternoon, the platform was laid for them to claim the bonus point victory.

Kinsale made their intentions clear by hitting Castleisland with a try with just three minutes gone in the game. Castleisland tried manfully to recover from this setback and pinned Kinsale into their own half for the next 20 minutes of the contest. Joe Sheehy,

Stephen Murphy and Brian Leonard looked threatening, but despite their endeavour, Castleisland rarely looked like breaching the Kinsale line.

As the half progressed it was noticeable that Kinsale had gained an upper hand in the scrums. Castleisland fielded two 18 year olds, Kevin Lenihan and Tommy Curtin, in the prop forward positions and the young lads had fine outings.

Kinsale fielded older more experienced campaigners though, and they laid a platform for Kinsale’s second try in the 25th minute when Pat O’Regan crashed over the line. Kinsale’s third try came soon afterwards.

Some calamitous tackling from the Castleisland rearguard saw Philip Walters scorch through and the hosts went in at half time 19-0 in arrears.

Kinsale struck once again after just three minutes of the second half. A strong maul led to a penalty, but sensing vulnerability, Kinsale opted for a scrum. Their decision was justified when a strong push led to a good attacking platform out wide and Mark O’Connell touched down for their bonus point fourth try.

Castleisland tried manfully to get back into the game for the remainder of the half but lacked penetration. Kinsale were more clinical and forced Castleisland into the concession of penalties before eventually being awarded a penalty try.

Castleisland face unbeaten Old Christians at home next Sunday.