Club Notes: Week Ending 20.01.13

This week’s Club Notes come from Clonakilty, Cobh Pirates and Fermoy rugby clubs.

Clonakilty RFC – Courtesy of Roy Maguire, PRO

This Saturday Clon’s New Year’s resolutions will receive a thorough testing when Navan come to town. The Meath men are currently sixth in the division and a win here will rekindle their title and promotion aspirations while a loss will all but put the lid on them. Their last and only visit to the Vale was in 2000 in the All Ireland junior clubs provincial champions play-offs for AIL status. The result then was a convincing 25 – 10 win for West Cork club but this time they will meet a Navan side that has only lost twice this season. Clonakilty returned to their traditional New Year form with a bonus point win over Connemara which saw them make a significant move up the table. They will need to add to this to at least ensure safety. Neither side will lack motivation therefore and a big match is in store.

The Under 17s showed the way last Sunday when they defeated a big and highly-rated Midleton side in the semi-final of the South Munster League. They fell behind 5 – 0 to a disputed try in the first minute straight from the kick off but recovered to dominate the game in possession and territory but found it extremely difficult to break down a resolute Midleton defence. They did not help their cause by taking many wrong options and making unforced errors but a good side will prevail even when not at their best and will take great confidence into the final.

The final score line was 16 – 8 with the Clon pack dominant in the loose and comfortable in the set piece. Driving runs by David Jennings, Phillip Poillot and Ross O’Connor placed the visitors on the back foot however indecision by the Clon backs at crucial times and well-marshalled defence by Midleton prevented Clon from registering on the score board. It was on the half hour that Middleton finally succumbed to the Clon pressure when Ogie Scannell went in on the left wing to level the scores. Indeed Clon should have been in again within 5 minutes. A training ground move off a lineout deep in the oppositions 22 saw full back Bobby Smith bursting for the line but the grounding was just short and Middleton turned it over to relieve the pressure. The sides took the break with Midleton leading 5 – 8 having added a penalty.

Tadgh Dignan and Andrew Cullinane put in sterling displays in the first half. Conor Madden and Aran Hayes entered the fray and the fresh legs raised the tempo with Clon beginning to create more chances. Outhalf Eoghan Deasy and Robert Douglas at scrumhalf were beginning to impose themselves on the game and the backs, with Joe White in typical dynamic form, began to run more at the defence. Clon were rewarded with a penalty within 10 mins which Eoghan Deasy slotted to level again. Paul O’Regan, Olan Deane and Mark Lynch were outstanding, and soon the defensive line was creaking from the number of ball-carriers. A three-ruck phase of play underneath the Middleton posts created a gap for Joe White to cross the line for Clons second try. Deasy missed the conversion but was successful with two penalties later in the half to complete the scoring.

The squad was: Bobby Smith, Ogie Scannell, Shane Scannell, Aran Hayes, Andrew Cullinane, Joe White, Eoghan Deasy, Rob Douglas, David Walsh, Darragh McCullagh, David Jennings, Robert Kingston, Ross O Connor, Tadgh Dignan, Frazer Pock, Conor Madden, Paul O’Regan, Olan Deane, Phil Poillot, Mark Lynch and Denis O’Driscoll. Coaches : Mark O’Connor, Paudie O’Connor and Rob Walsh.

This weekend’s fixtures:

Saturday
South Munster Under 15 League, Clonakilty v Ballincollig, The Vale, 11.00
All Ireland Senior League, Clonakilty v Navan, The Vale, 2.30pm.

Cobh Pirates – Courtesy of Joe Mac Coitir, PRO

Cobh Pirates had the usual full St. Stephen's Day programme again this year.It started off with a sponsored swim at Cuskinny by the u/17's. Though the weather was mild it took brave souls to enter the sea in December.

The Eddie Doyle 7's Memorial Trophy was played for at one o' clock with the usual fun, tumbles and showmanship. The trophy was won by Kelly's Killers, captained by Jason Anglim. The Chairman's team won the Golden Oldies match and the Man of the Match Award was won by Amsterdam-based Golden-locked(!) Eoin Wallace. The J2 team received a new set of jerseys from Beeline Products and Gerry Finn was at hand to present them to Billy Dillane, J2 coach. The proceeds of the traditional St. Stephen's Day collection was in aid of Cobh Hospital and Cobh Pirates will match the amount collected.

After the formalities, Pirates from home and abroad renewed acquaintances and exchanged news and stories – as the night got longer the stories got taller!!

Fermoy RFC – Courtesy of Billy Mulqueen, PRO

Fermoy Under 7’s Rugby

Our U7's travelled to Carrigaline RFC. We had a team of eight and played 2 ten minute halves. Fermoy got off to an excellent start with Eoghan Leddy finishing a great break from Jack Keating. This was followed shortly by another try from Fermoy with Sam Twomey finishing a break from Cameron O’Sullivan. Fermoy scored a third try with Padraig O’Toole breaking through the Carrigaline defence and Darra Cuffe passing to Jack Keating who ran in unopposed.

In the second half Fermoy scored five further tries and Carrigaline got a well-deserved consolation try. The Final score Carrigaline 1 Fermoy 8. Sam Twomey was awarded the Man of the Match from the Carrigaline Coach. Both teams played well in good spirited matches. Fermoy try scorers were Eoghan Leddy, Jack Keating, Cameron O’Sullivan and Sam Twomey. Not forgetting Dara Cuffe, Aaron McGrath, Cillian O’Sullivan, Tommy O’Sullivan and Pádraig O’Toole. The lads played very well and the opposition coaches complimented our players. The lads skills are steadily improving throughout the season. Well done to all players and keep up the hard work at the Wednesday training sessions.

Fermoy Team: Darra Cuffe, Jack Keating, Eoghan Leddy, Aaron McGrath, Cameron O’Sullivan, Cillian O'Sullivan, Pádraig O'Toole and Sam Twomey.

Fermoy Under 8’s Rugby

There was a great turnout on Saturday morning for our match away to Carrigaline. With both squads having strong numbers we played 12 aside in what was a very competitive and hard fought match. In the first half we played with the hill and, as before Christmas, we got into our stride quickly getting scores on the board early. Seamus went over for an early try after the ball was driven on by Daniel and Seamus picked from the ruck to go over for a try. After that it was the turn of Billy to score with a great mazy run and a good sidestep to beat the Carrig defence. After that, defences got on top for a period and there was great tackling and rucking on both sides. There was fantastic tackling from Molly who was like a terrier all day; also on the wings Denis, Louis and Owen stopped many of the Carrig moves. Louis was unlucky not to score as he over ran the dead-ball line after a great team effort to get him up to the line. However not one minute after the restart, he got his try, again after a great effort by the whole team. At half time it was 5 tries to 2 with Cormac and Seamus getting a try each before the break.

In the second half Carrigaline were the stronger, and as we tired, their momentum put them into the lead. Our defence had to work very hard in this second period as we found it hard to get possession. There was some great defensive work by Michael, Ailbhe and Leadhbeth. On a number of restarts John gained us a lot of badly needed yards a give us some go forward ball. Cormac was busy all day and in addition to his scores made ground every time he got his hands on the ball. Harry also put himself about with some good tackling and again a few memorable runs that moved us forward at crucial times. In the second half we got another try through Seamus after some great work from Daniel and Owen; then in the last move of the game after the ball had been taken on by Billy and Louis, Cormac went over for a try to level the match at 7 tries each.

This was our toughest match to date, and whilst we ran out of steam in the second half and lost our shape a bit, it was still a great performance against a very strong Carrigaline team.

Fermoy Team : Leadhbeth O’Sullivan, Seamus Brannagh, Denis Coughlan, Louis Roche, John Lonergan, Ailbhe Ryan, Daniel Ryan, Molly O’Sullivan, Billy Marsh, Cormac O’Sullivan, Owen Sykes, Michael O’Meara, Harry O’Donovan
Fermoy Under 10’s Rugby.

Last Saturday we made the trip to Cork to take on Carrigaline. This was the first game of the new year so everybody was well up for it. We knew we were in for a tough game when after a blistering start from our hosts resulted in a try in the first few minutes. Following some nice interplay between Jake Buckley and Mark Carey allowed Lucas Cross to score a wonderful try in the corner. Carrigaline took the lead again from the tip off when they ran straight through our cover to put them 2-1 up. We were back on level terms again with good work from Eoin Condon gave room to Bryan Hurley to run at the Carrig defence and he slipped a pass to Ryan McGrath .The ref blew for the first break soon after.

The second period was our best ten minutes of the season so far. We scored four times but it wasn’t just the scores, it was the fantastic team play that was the highlight. Alexei Semenko started off with a great run up the middle, Sean O'Leary eventually got the ball and started on a mazy run but it broke down five metres short of the line. We thought the ball was turned over but some great unselfish rucking from Peter Finn won the ball and Darragh O Sullivan mauled over to score. We were well on top now and scored again with a try from Conor Coakley. More good work from Luke O'Mahoney and Conor enabled Mark to get on the score sheet. Jake scored our sixth after running the length of the field with Bryan supporting him all the way. We just scored our final try of the game in the last ten minutes through Lucas. This was a great team performance and the lads are continually improving, Well done!

Team; Mark Carey,(capt)Jake Buckley, Luke O'Mahoney, Lucas Cross, Peter Finn, Darragh O Sullivan, Eoin Condon, Bryan Hurley, Ryan McGrath, Alexei Semenko, Conor Coakley, Sean O'Leary.

Fermoy Under 12’s Rugby
After what was one of the best training sessions on Wednesday night, the U12 squad travelled to Carrigaline up for the challenge. Once the Saturday morning tiredness and Christmas cobwebs were blown away on what was a particularly fresh morning, Fermoy turned in three tries in the first five minutes from Duncan, Matthew and Fionn. Not to be outdone, Carrigaline responded with four tries to take the lead in the first period. Fermoy playing uphill in the second period held Carrigaline to two tries, with Conleith scoring our only try in this period. After the break and with tactics planned Fermoy demonstrated their strength in defence holding Carrigaline to only one try and preventing many more often on their own line. All players sensed a victory and the third period was by far our strongest with scores coming from Aaron, Jack Fox, Conleith and fittingly Duncan who had owned our scoring fest earlier. Fermoy took a well deserved vistory 11 tries to 7, a scoreline even Munster could do with currently!

Well done to all players for turning out in such numbers and for playing so well throughout the morning. It really was a true team effort with excellent displays of the rugby skills learned so far. The squad are already looking forward to our next match.

Squad: Duncan Ekechukwu, Colm Leddy, Conleith Ryan, Cian Condon, Jack Fox, Jack O'Leary, Aaron Noonan, Sean Hegarty [Captain], Fionn O'Callaghan, Matthew Valentine.

Fermoy Under 13 & 14 Rugby

U13s & U14s. Our scheduled match last Saturday against Muskerry was postponed as Muskerry's pitch was unplayable. We have agreed to play this game at a later date. Training continues on Wednesday evening at 6.45pm sharp. All players are ask to bring €;2 for the lights. Our next match is at home this Saturday against Old Christians. As the Minis have a match at home, our match will be at 12noon. Parents are asked to bring a plate of sandwiches to the clubhouse for the Apres Match. Contact Billy Mulqueen at 087-4195640

New Players Welcome

Fermoy mini rugby club aims to develop the game of rugby in a safe and enjoyable manner by encouraging skills development and above all fun and inclusion for young players in the age range under 8 to under 12. We always welcome new members. We would like to invite all interested in playing to come along on Saturday morning or to any of our training sessions and join in.

If you have a query regarding Fermoy mini rugby please contact Jim Crowley at 0851742244.

Fermoy Rugby Club Lotto

The draw took place on January 17th in The Grand Hotel, Fermoy with a jackpot of €;20,000. The numbers drawn were 3, 17, 18, 22. There were no winner on the night but Lucky Dip prizes went to Noel Cannon, BOC, and Anthony Kelly.

Fermoy Women’s Rugby

Fermoy Lionesses extended their position at the top of the table with a great win over Cobh Pirates (22-5) in Cobh. The Lionesses started strongly with some great surging runs setting up good field position leading to the first score of the game. This was a well taken close range try by Leah Lyons who subsequently converted. The Fermoy scrum and lineout were on top form which secured plentiful possession. It was from a lineout the second try was scored by Meadhbh O’Callaghan who broke off the back of a great driving maul to drive over the line. The second half started with Cobh showing great runs up the pitch but great defence kept them at bay. After soaking up the attacks, Fermoy surged back into the Cobh 22 and after some good work from the forwards, the backs got their chance to break through. Some neat footwork by Roberta McDonald got her over the line for Fermoy’s third try. Fermoy went searching for the fourth try to claim a bonus point and this was secured by a good running angle allowing Christine Bruen to sprint over the line. Cobh then fought back to score a try from a five metre penalty leaving the final score 22-5.Thanks to Cobh for a great game and we look forward to meeting Ballincollig in our first Cup game next Saturday at the showgrounds at 12noon. Training in Fermoy on Tuesday at 7pm and Friday at 6.30pm, all new members welcome.

Fermoy Team:Leah Lyons,Sophie Carroll,Meadhbh O’Callaghan, Laura Marcelin, Karen Murphy, Deirdre Purfield,Justine Fitzgerald,Patricia Carroll,Marion Twomey, Aine Firtear,Christine Bruen,Siobhan Clarke,Amy Quinn, Roberta McDonald, Orla Cotter, Amy Beausang, Sharon Casey,Marion Beecher.

Fermoy Men’s Rugby

On Sunday 13th Jan, the J3’s who qualified for the second phase of the Junior 3 League played Dolphin at the Showgrounds. A scrappy opening was to be expected as it was the first match of the new year for both sides after a relaxing Christmas break.

Dolphin opened the scoreline with a kick by outhalf David Aherne, Fermoy had an opportunity through to even the scoreline but the kick went right and wide. Moments later a second opportunity came Fermoy’s way and this was slotted over to bring the score to 3-3.

A good game to watch, a fast moving game with plenty of exciting opportunites for both sides, Dolphin managed to edge themselves in front with a converted try before the break. Half time score 3-10 to the Dolphin side.

After the interval, both teams battled hard for possession and to keep it! A try for the homeside brought them right back into the game, but the failed conversion from the touchline left them short 2 points to bring the game level. 8-10 was the scoreline with 20mins to go to the final whistle.

Dolphin slotted two more penalty kicks through the boot of Aherne to seal their win to bring the score to 8-16.

It was exciting to see Jamie Noonan, Barry Lynch, Andrew Lenahan and Darragh Lombard play so well for the Fermoy side.

Upcoming Matches:
This coming week will see the J3’s play Cork Transport in a challenge game at the Showgrounds. KO 7.30pm on Wednesday night. On Saturday the J1’s will play Douglas in a challenge game KO2.30pm in Moneygourney.

Training every Tuesday and Friday night at 7.30pm and new faces are always welcome to join in!
For more information please email fermoyrugby@gmail.com