Thurles 36 Sunday’s Well 34
In a thrilling, hectic and topsy-turvy encounter in North Tipperary; Sunday’s Well came agonisingly close to snatching a magnificent come from behind victory only to have it snatched away with the last kick of the game. There was some consolation as they team secured two bonus points from the game; having trailed by a margin of 18 points at the break; though admittedly the stiff downfield wind did play its part in the game.
The ’Well actually started the game quite assuredly. Some early phases and strong running led to a penalty that saw Ciaran Maguire kick his side into the lead. Emeka Asiegbu; who was a live-wire throughout then made a magnificent break from the defensive Twenty-Two up to the opposing Twenty-Two, but unfortunately he was so quick the support was a tad late and a penalty was conceded.
This set the frame-work for the first-half; as penalties from anywhere for the hosts were expertly kicked into the Twenty-Two with the aid of a strong wind. Thurles were also extremely powerful and efficient in the red-zones and secured the bonus-point by half-time. All tries starting from attacking line-outs; three coming from penalties and one arising out a superb 50-22.
The ‘Well were making some decent carries and off-loads with Jacob Lane and Finn MacFhlannchadha particularly lively while Evan O’Connell had some strong surges as well. However; they struggled to break into the Twenty-Two enough; and once when they did; following great carries by Jacob Lane and Mariano Cosimi; the ball was spread from right to left with Cormac Kelliher breaking through.
The ’Well; even with the aid of the strong wind faced a major task as they trailed 26-8 at the break. However; full of confidence and belief; and with the half-back pairing of Maguire and Fabien Loughrey marshalling the flow – the side mounted a great comeback with some excellent flowing attacking rugby.
Almost from the kick-off, the ‘Well were awarded a penalty having received the ball. The quick thinking Loughrey tapped and raced all the way up towards the Thurles five-metre line – with only a hasty high-tackle stopping him. The ‘Well played with the advantage and after some strong carries; it was Andrew O’Callaghan who surged over the line.
Maguire executed some excellent 50-22s; although one such kick made the Thurles sideline quite irate. However; another one they could not give out about and from the strong line-out; they got a penalty. After a series of carries the ever industrious Mike McCarthy – who had a mammoth game at set-piece and in the loose powered over. Maguire added conversion to both tries to make it 26-22.
Thurles in fairness; weren’t only looking to take rearguard action and played some strong running rugby of their own – as the game went fairly helter skelter with several times the ball worked its way from deep in one Twenty-Two to the other. Their hard work did give them some breathing space with another try to stretch the lead to 11 points.
There was a series where the ‘Well were bombarding the Thurles Twenty-Two, before a counter-attack saw the Tipp’ side run from end-to -end and a try looked certain but persistent last ditch pressure forced a forward pass. From the scrum, Alex Lane and Eric Kingston combined to break from their own line and earn an attacking line-out. This led to several phases before Lane cut in a great line to touch down.
Then Maguire having converted, produced a series of great kicks to both wings; firstly to Alex Lane and then across to Emeka Asiegbu who forced pressure on the Thurles recovering defenders to win a five-metre scrum. The ‘Well locked out the scrum and eventually the supreme Cormac Kelliher fored his way over for the go-ahead score with only a couple of minutes remaining. Maguire narrowly missed the tricky conversion to leave it be a one-point lead.
Thurles reclaimed the kick-off and the ‘Well couldn’t relieve the pressure. They had the hosts on the Twenty-Two but eventually a penalty was unfortunately conceded in front of the posts. It was still a tricky effort into the wind but Jack Flanagan was the hero for Thurles with the game-winning kick – having also kicked four out of five conversions and nabbing a try also.
Fair play to Thurles; who are improving lately and the ‘Well definitely showed that their attacking game continues to progress with some great interplay and moves. They will aim to bounce back under the lights against a strong Clonakility next Saturday night back at home.
Scorers: Thurles: Jack Flanagan try, 4 cons, pen; Seamus Holohan, Colin Nolan, John Shaw, Sonny Dwyer tries;
Sunday’s Well: Cormac Kelliher (2), Andrew O’Callaghan, Mike McCarthy, Alex Lane tries; Ciaran Maguire 3 cons, pen.
Thurles: Jack Flanagan; Matthew Kelly, James O’Mara, Sonny Dwyer, Luke Fogarty; James Maher, Seamus Holohan; John Shaw, Shane Nugent, Stephen Kirwan; Colin Nolan, Daniel Lanigan-Ryan; Sam Quinlan, Mark Cummins, Ciaran Ryan. Replacements: Brandon Meaney, James Butler, Donncha Ryan, Brian O’Connell, Kieran O’Hagan, James Devaney, Riccardo Prandi.
Sunday’s Well: David O’Dwyer; Alex Lane, Mariano Cosimi, Andrew O’Callaghan, Emeka Asiegbu; Ciaran Maguire, Fabien Loughrey; Evan O’Connell, Dylan Cooper, Mike McCarthy; John Costello, Jacob Lane; Kees Pereka, Finn MacFhlannchadha, Cormac Kelliher. Replacements: Eoin Carmody, David Hourigan., Robert Loftus, Aaron Beale, Robert Egar, Eric Kingston, Eoin Aherne.
