Provincial Rugby Roundup

The opening games in Division 1 and 2 of the Munster Junior League saw five clubs in Division 1 and six in Division 2 record bonus point wins.

Trailing 17-12 at half time Kilfeacle staged a dominant second half at Canal Bank to beat Richmond 45-17. Bobby Purcell scored two of Kilfeacle’s seven tries and Killian Noonan, Keelan O’Connor, Ricky Whitney, Jamie Heuston and Juandre Odendaal got one each. Luke Heuston kicked five conversions. Shane Purcell and Ryan Meagher replied with tries for Richmond and Purcell kicked a conversion and a penalty.

St Mary’s defeated Muskerry 37-8 at Grove Island with tries from Tom Harrington, Shane Mullaly, Ross Kelly, Ruairi O’Donnell, Adam Kiely and Andy McKenzie. Adam Guerin kicked three conversions and two penalties. Colm Heelan replied with a try for Muskerry and Rob Cahill kicked a penalty.

Bandon won the West Cork derby defeating Skibbereen 24-21 with a last minute try by Ralph O‘Mahony which Hugh O’Mahony converted. Ralph O’Mahony scored a first half try for Bandon who trailed 21-5 at half time. Kain Donnellan and Ben Donegan were the other try scorers. Hugh O’Mahony added another conversion. Skibbereen replied with two tries from Rawiri Wereta and one by Tom Beare. Daire Kingston converted all three tries.

Clonakilty defeated last year’s Second Division champions Old Christians 29-21 at Rathcooney. Jack Ryan, Rory White and Matt Foster scored tries for Clonakilty, who were also awarded a penalty try. Niall Barrett kicked two conversions and a penalty. Dave Ahern and Cian Walsh replied with tries for the home side and Sammy Haberlin kicked three penalties and a conversion.

The other promoted side Clanwilliam lost 37-16 away to Sunday’s Well. The visitors dominated the opening half but were unable to convert their chances into scores. Jack Quinlan scored Clanwilliam’s try and Niall Leahy converted and also added three penalties. JJ Puna, Fabien Loughrey, Cormac Kelliher, Mark Kelly and Adam Brown were the Well try scorers. Jazz Pendejito kicked three conversions and two penalties.

Mallow defeated Newcastle West 27-23 at the North Cork venue. Chris O’Regan, Brian Henry and Tomas Maldonado scored tries for Mallow and Riley Harrison kicked three conversions and two penalties. Mark O’Mara, Dan Normoyle and Gerard Griffin replied with tries for Newcastle West and Shane Airey kicked two penalties and a conversion.

Kanturk saw off the challenge of Thurles with a 27-19 home win. The visitors who dominated the opening half led 19-13 at halftime with tries from Paddy McGrath, Tom McNamara and Luke Fogarty. James Maher kicked two conversions. Kanturk hit back with tries from Brian O’Sullivan, Conor O’Sullivan and Matt Hootan, with Hootan kicking three conversions and two penalties.

Kinsale were the big winners in Division Two after their 47-12 home win over Cobh Pirates. David Looney scored four of Kinsale’s eight tries, and Erhan Farley, Sean Coughlan, Paul Graham, and David Evans got one each. Dylan Lacey kicked two conversions and a penalty. Cian Ahern and Conor McDowell replied with tries for the Pirates and Michael White kicked a conversion.

Charleville defeated Abbeyfeale 50-29 in a game that produced thirteen tries at the West Limerick venue. Eoin McMahon, Darragh Browne and Jessie Smith each scored two tries for Charleville, and PJ O’Connor and Colm McMahon got one each. Kian Smith kicked five conversions. Jimmy Kelly replied with two tries for Abbeyfeale, and Alex Culhane, Andrew Curtin and David Murphy got a try each. Mark Nolan and Caoimhin Barron each kicked a conversion.

Carrick-on Suir playing their first game in this Division, picked up a losing bonus point in their 24-17 home defeat by St. Senan’s. Declan Collins (2), Jamie McNamara and Callum Toomey got were the Senan’s try scorers. Jake Egan and Sean Guilfoyle each kicked a conversion.

Ennis made it a great weekend for the Clare club as their men’s side defeated Ballincollig 27-19 at Tanner Park. Dylan Kenny was the hero for Ennis scoring two tries, two conversions and a penalty. Oscar O’Gorman and Aaron Malone also scored tries for the winners.

Newly promoted Youghal had a 33-17 away win at Fethard. Scott O’Sullivan, Ruaidhri McSweney and Oran Finn scored tries for Youghal and Nathan O’Halloran added three conversions and three penalties. Ritchie Anglim and Sean Prendergast replied with tries for Fethard and Peter Wall converted both and also added a penalty.

Relegated Crosshaven made a winning start to life in Division 2 with a 20-5 away win at Castleisland. Josh McCarthy, Kealan Daly and Patrick Coter scored tries for Crosshaven and Jack O’Connell kicked a conversion and a penalty. Adam Jensen replied with a try for Castleisland.

Waterpark picked up maximum points in their 41-17 home win against Fermoy. Rory Hannon scored two tries for the winners and Scott Nolan, Luke Murphy, Ben Daly, Mick Hayes and Liam Lynch got one apiece. Daly kicked three conversions. Ben Ryan and Pa Leahy replied with tries for Fermoy and Eoin Lacey converted both and also added a penalty.