St Senan’s kickstart their season

St Senan’s 20 Thurles 13

St Senan’s got what they hope will be a kickstart to their season under new coach Christy Neilan when they beat Thurles at home by seven points in the Munster Junior Division 1 League on Sunday.
Played in ideal conditions, St Senan’s went on the attack from the off and with out-half Declan Collins controlling and varying his game, Thurles were on the defence and were lucky to keep their line intact.
From a Thurles kick ahead, full-back Davy Dunne made a great break and was unlucky to be stopped short of the Thurles line. The Shannon side kept the pressure on and eventually Thurles conceded a penalty, which Collins kicked to the corner. From the resulting lineout, Senan’s worked the ball infield and Collins broke through the middle to score a try, which he converted.
After 28 minutes, Collins again put in a great kick to the corner and from the resulting lineout, Senan’s mauled their way to the line. Eventually hooker Fergal Lawlor forced his way over for a try.
At this stage, it was all Senan’s and but for a few knock-ons at crucial times, they would have increased their lead. The pressure told on Thurles and in the 40th minute, they conceded a penalty almost under the posts, which Declan Collins had no trouble converting to give the Shannon side a 15-point lead approaching half-time.
From the kick-off, Thurles made a good break into the Senan’s 22 and were stopped short of the try line by Ian Fitzgerald but the referee deemed he did not release the player and was yellow-carded. Thurles scored the penalty to leave the half-time score at 15-3.
Thurles started the second half much more determined and with the advantage of an extra man put Senan’s on the back foot from the start.
The Clare side defended well but just when they were restored to their full compliment of players, the Thurles outhalf put in a very clever crossfield kick for their winger to catch and touch down in the corner.
Thurles had the bit between their teeth now and put Senan’s under a lot of pressure, which eventually paid off after 20 minutes when they were awarded a penalty five metres out.
Their scrumhalf caught Senan’s napping and took a quick tap penalty and scampered over unopposed for a try, to leave two points between the sides and Senan’s followers facing a nervous last 20 minutes in a match that they should have made safe by this stage.
To their credit, they rallied and put Thurles under severe pressure in the scrums and were unlucky not to get a try when they forced Thurles back over their own line several times. The pressure paid off finally when Declan Coughlan got over the line with five minutes to go to secure the points.
This Sunday St Senan’s will be away to table toppers Crosshaven.

St Senan’s: Tony O’Brien, Fergal Lawler, Dave Lee, Aaron Skerritt, capt, Aidan O’Callaghan, Dwane Horkin, Ian Fitzgerald, Ger Hall, Daragh McCoy, Declan Collins, Brian Collins, Ronan O’Callaghan, Chris Sloan, Declan Coughlan, Davy Dunne.
Replacements: Tim Larkin for Lee; Paul O’Halloran for Horkin.

Ennis 9 Kanturk 9

Ennis secured their first point of the Division 2 league campaign when they shared the spoils with Kanturk at Ennis on Sunday.
This was an evenly contested tie throughout, with the teams level at 6-6 at half-time, the Ennis points coming from two Bryan Murphy penalties.
Kanturk went ahead with a penalty early in the second half and they held this until the final quarter, when Murphy kicked his third penalty to tie up the game again.
Ennis made a few good breaks in the second half, including one by Niall Nevin, who was held up short of the line.
The home side dominated the last 10 minutes but just could not get across the visitors’ line.
Ennis officials were pleased with the result, particularly as they were comprehensively beaten by the Cork club last year.
This week, Ennis will travel to play Mallow in the league.

Ennis: Brian Farrell, Joe Moloney, Eric McInerney, Pa Harding, John Corry,  Conor O’Mahoney, Enda Galvin, Thion van Roonen, Jeff Ruttle, Bryan Murphy, Sara Butler, Niall Nevin, David Murphy  Dylan Tynan O’Mahoney; Andrew O’Neill.
Replacements: Stuart Farrell for Corry; Noel Downes for Ruttle (inj).

Kilrush 10 Carrick-on-Suir 29

Carrick-on-Suir proved too strong for Kilrush in this Munster Junior League Division 3 tie played at Monmore, Kilrush, on Sunday.
On a day when Paul Conway and Martin Hehir accounted for the Kilrush scores, the visitors were well on their way to victory when they led 21-5 at half-time.
This week, Kilrush travel to play Killorglin.

Kilrush: Pádraig O’Malley, Brian Johnson, Dermot Moloney, David O’Grady, Martin Hehir, Ben Hopkins, Matthew Flanagan, Martin Griffin; Ray Conway, Paul Conway, John Tubridy, Calum Bond, Brian Saunders, Pat Cussen; David Egan.
Replacements: Mark Haugh for Dermot Moloney; David Hartley for Ben Hopkins.

The Kilrush U-15 team went down to Richmond, 31-14, in the North Munster League.

Scariff 34 Killorglin 11

Scariff scored another win in the Munster Junior Division 3 League when they accounted for Killorglin at Scariff on Sunday.
The winners got off to a great start, scoring three tries in the opening 15 minutes. The first came from Joe McGrath, with Robbie Madden and James Kelly getting the next two. Kelly converted his own score.
Scariff stretched their lead further after 25 minutes when Barry Gibbons scored the side’s fourth try.
Killorglin hit back with two penalties to leave the half-time score at 22 to 6.
Early in the second half the visitors got in for a try but Scariff hit back and Robbie Madden got his second try midway through the second half.
The game finished on a high for the home side as they scored a breakaway try through Trevor Kelly in the final minute. James Kelly added the points.
This week, Scariff travel to play Bantry in round three of the league.

Scariff: Conor McNamara, Trevor Kelly, Eoghan Collins, Kenny Mason, Barry Gibbons, James Kelly, Tom Cronin, Pat McTiernan, Colin Bulger, Joe McGrath Darragh McNamara, Rory Slattery, Patrick Minogue, David Harte, Robbie Madden.
Subs: Bernard McGrath, Darren McNamara, Hugh Molloy, Colin Bolger, Stephen Madden.

Newcastlewest 26 Ennis 12

Ennis U-14s travelled to Newcastlewest last Sunday and in a highly entertaining match lost out by four tries to two.
In the first half, Ennis matched their opponents at scrum and lineout and showed great tenacity in the forward battle but some brilliant play by the Newcastlewest outhalf gave them players out wide to score three tries, each converted.
Their last try of the half came through a midfield break and despite some desperate tackling by the Ennis defence, the momentum carried them over the line.
Ennis came back strongly at the beginning of the second half and within five minutes, after a series of phases from the forwards and backs, Sam Skerritt drove forward and with the Ennis pack behind him, made it to the line.
From then on, the match was a tight contest, with some excellent handling and ball retention on both sides. With 10 minutes to go, Ennis were again over the line, this time centre Lorcan Casey touching down after some great interplay between the backs, with Ross Kelly converting.
Newcastlewest went immediately back on the attack but some great counter-mauling by Ennis close to their line prevented any further scores.
On the Ennis side, there was some excellent defence and tackling as well as good rucking.
Best for Ennis were Stephen Burke, Lorcan Casey, Michael Lyons, Oisín Kelly and Sam Skerritt.

Ennis: Jason Smith, Rob Austin, Stephen Burke, Liam McCarthy, Cillian Ferguson, Oisín Kelly, Sam Skerritt, Jamie Reddan, Michael Clinton, Lorcan Casey, David Flynn, Aidan Rayman, Conall Curtin, Shay Malone, Michael Lyons. Replacements: Alan Britchfield, Tiernan McDermott, Brian Malone, Liam Halpin, Ross Kelly, David McDonnell, Michael Culligan, Caolain Meaney, Ferdia Tynan-O’Mahony, David Buggy, Stephen Mullins, Jordan Ryan, Karl Cullinane, Adrian Walsh.

Ennis 7 Old Cresent 24

Ennis started their U-15 league this week with their first game against Old Crescent.
The game was played at Lees Road and Ennis started the game well but the first score went to the visitors and was converted.
Ennis continued to put pressure on Old Crescent and eventually were rewarded with a penalty try near the end of the first half; was the result of an excellent pass from out-half Cian O’Ceallaigh.
It put Eibhan Courtney into space, he kicked ahead and there was a strong chase from James Woods and Brian ­Cahill to put pressure on the Old Crescent defence on the line.
Old Crescent scored another try in the second half but did not convert.
Again, Ennis were unlucky not to get at least another score, with some great pressure from the Ennis pack. They were unlucky when a try was disallowed with the ball over the line but play was called back for a scrum on the line.
There were some very strong performances in the forwards from Ronan McLernon, Ciaran O’Connor and Ciaran Waters and in the backs from Liam Lynch, Even Courtney Brian Cahill and James Woods.

Ennis squad: Elle Mundu, Emmet Kerins, David Carmody, Ronan McLernon, Hugh Butler, Ciaran O’Connor, Cian Hurley, Ciaran Waters, Liam Lynch (capt), Cian O’Ceallaigh, Eibhan Courtney, Brian Cahill, John Kennedy, David McNamara, James Woods, Cathal Kelly, Conor Somers , Danny Mungovan, Diarmuid Edwards, Rory Brennan, Mark Lynch, Sean Leyden, Kevin McGinley , Jamie Hynes.

Rice College Ennis 22 St Flannan’s College 15

Rice College, Ennis, beat St Flannan’s College 22-15 in the first round of the Mungret Shield (U-16) at Lees Road last Friday.
In an exciting and hard-fought encounter, Rice College stormed into a strong lead with tries from Ronan O’Halloran, Nicki Twumasi (2) and Shane Hanrahan, along with a conversion from Ronan O’Halloran. 
St Flannan’s however, fought back bravely with three unconverted tries to bring the game to a close and exciting climax.  Rice College held on at the end to record their first win of the new season.
They now play Askeaton of Limerick in the next round.
While it was a great team performance from Rice College, they had outstanding displays from Ronan O’Halloran, Nicki Twumasi, Michael McNelis (capt), Alan Considine, Chris and Shane Hanrahan.