Castleisland dig deep to earn valuable draw away to Fethard

MUNSTER JUNIOR LEAGUE DIVISION 2 Fethard 17 Castleisland 17

CASTLEISLAND would have bitten your hand off if you told them they would come away with a draw prior to this game, but in the finish they felt somewhat deflated not to have come away with the win. Having said that, Fethard might have snatched victory in the finish when a last minute penalty sailed narrowly wide.

Castleisland took a 12-5 lead in at the half time break after playing some excellent rugby in the first half. Playing into the breeze, the away side took the game to their opponents. Strong carries from Eric McSweeney, Kieran Downey and James Cullinane threatened the Fethard line for the first 10 minutes and it took a good tackle to put Sean Nolan into touch to prevent what looked like a certain try. Connie Reynolds was dictating the play for Castleisland, and after spotting an overlap Kieran Downey and Mike Cronin combined to put Shane Brosnan in for an unconverted try.

Castleisland continued to pressurise their opponents, and Brian Leonard struck for try number 2 after 15 phases of play.It looked like it was going to be Castleisland’s day, but Fethard were made of stern stuff. A good bout of pressure saw their winger Jack Kealy strike for a try. Fethard’s tails were now up and they attacked the Castleisland defence with gusto. Some great cover tackling from Pat Bawn O’Sullivan, Shane Brosnan and, Connie Reynolds kept them at bay though, and Kieran Downey won a vital penalty the end of the first half to relieve the pressure.

Castleisland started the second half brightly but a costly turnover saw Joey Noonan strike for Fethard’s second try. With the conversion added the sides were now level at 12-12. With 20 minutes left in the contest Castleisland got the break that they needed. A good line out take by Paul Butler led to a maul. Kieran Downey drove off the back and his pass released the flying Mike Cronin who just managed to touch down in the corner to push the visitors 17-12 ahead. Castleisland seemed to take their eyes off the prize once again though, and a series of missed tackles, and an unfortunate slip, saw Conor Kavanagh strike for the equalising try. A tense last 15 minutes ensued with both sides unlucky not to score. Then came Fethard’s last minute penalty that would have snatched victory, but Castleisland were grateful that Gary Kavanagh’s kick sailed just wide, and they came away with a vital 2 points.