No joy for battling Castleisland on the road to Kinsale
MUNSTER JUNIOR LEAGUE DIVISION 2
Kinsale 22 Castleisland 15
CASTLEISLAND made the journey to west Cork without a number of key players but came away with a valuable losing bonus point after a narrow defeat.
With the absent players Castleisland were forced to reshuffle their deck and it almost worked as regular flanker Pat Fitzgerald caused panic in the Kinsale defence with some strong carries from the centre position. Kinsale actually moved their own flanker to centre to counter the rampaging Castleisland man.
The away side’s defence was excellent with a dominant scrum and line-out working well in tough conditions, but all the play seemed to be around the middle of the park for the first 20 minutes.
After 25 minutes Castleisland won a scrum against the head on Kinsale’s 22 and after strong carries by Kieran Downey and Fitzgerald, Connie Reynolds put Brian Leonard through to touch down out wide.
James Cullinane almost went through for a second Castleisland try on the stroke of half-time, but it wasn’t to be and the visitors had to be content with a 5-0 lead at the break.
Castleisland fell asleep early in the second half and Kinsale punished them to the full with tries from Fergus Gimlett and Ieuan Walters with Johnny Sheehan adding the conversions.
The tide was now firmly in Kinsale’s favour and Sheehan soon added a penalty after a questionable decision by the referee to lead 17-5. Castleisland didn’t lie down and Leonard slotted over a 30 metre penalty to bring the score back to 17-8.
The reprieve was brief, however, as Kinsale’s Dan Cronin scored a try out wide after Castleisland were slow to react as the ball squirted out of a scrum. With nothing to lose Castleisland threw the kitchen sink at Kinsale with CJ O’Sullivan, Conor O’Shea and Pat Fitzgerald to the fore.
Kinsale held out well but after a number of phases, Eric McSweeney barged over under the posts with good help from James Cullinane and Donal McCarthy to bring the score back to 22-15.
Kinsale came back at Castleisland and it was a nervous last five minutes. Kieran Downey had a vital steal deep inside his own half with time almost up to stem the tide and secure the losing bonus point.
Castleisland are now on 16 points and one win from their remaining two games will see them safe in Division 2 for another season. Their home fixture against mid table Old Christians next Sunday could be their chance as they won’t want to travel to Cobh in March seeking points.