Clanwilliam 12 Sunday’s Well 28

The ‘Well secured another crucial bonus-point victory in a hard-fought tenacious battle in the heart of Tipperary Town. The visitors were asked a lot of questions but manage to pull together enough moments of class to gain the crucial four tries which sees them lie a point behind both Mallow and Thomond in the table.

It was a brisque cold day in the Premier County; but a light fresh breeze and a dry ball meant the conditions weren’t at all bad. It took a while for both sides to get their attack going with cold hands making it hard to hold on to the ball under the pressure; and the ferocity of both defences was seeing possession from deep being more of a liability than a asset.

Logan Henry and Gary Downey put in some excellent kicks as the ‘Well started to win the battle of field position. They had Clanwilliam  pinned deep inside their Twenty-Two and a powerful scrum put them under the pressure – on a put-in to the Tipp’ outfit. They tried to break out but an alert Fabian Loughrey was able to nab the ball and powered the short distance to the line, with Logan expertly converting.

Shortly after it was an attacking scrum that proved to be fruitful; with Loughrey again producing the finishing touch to the move. A solid drive allowed Conor O’Brien break off the base. Having broken the defensive line he linked up with Cormac Kelliher – who enjoyed an excellent game throughout. CK made further ground while taking a couple of players out before off-loading to Fab for the second try.

The ’Well pack were imposing themselves on the game – none more so than the ever youthful Shane Desmond. For over fifty minutes; he enjoyed a monster of a game in defence and attack; with many powerful carries and always setting up great positions and presenting the ball back perfectly. Finn MacFhlannchadha and Kieran Stokes were among the others that enjoyed bright moments in the tight as well.

Once again; with half-time approaching it was an assist by Cormac Kelliher than led to a try. Kieran Maye was the beneficiary and showed great pace to avoid the chasing Clanwilliam players and go in for the third try. Logan; who was  having a great game with the boot and ball in hand was  perfect with all conversions to make it 21-0 at half-time.

The ‘Well looked to secure the bonus-point from the offset in the first-half. Clanwilliam defended their line ferociously and made some big early hits. Having lifted an early siege; the hosts worked the ball downfield with Darragh Crowe eventually touching down.

The ‘Well went back on the offensive. The bench had a big impact in an attritional game. Mark Kelly and Eoin Aherne were putting themselves about with Aaron Beale making several big impacts. Beale was unlucky to be held up but finally the pressure paid off after Ryan O’Donoghue-Kelleher used his dancing feet to get round Clan’s defence and seal the bonus-point, with Logan converting.

Clanwilliam gained a late consolation courtesy of the lively Jack Quinlan; and after a tough game; there is little time to rest the wounds as we travel to take on League Champions Richmond next Sunday.

Scorers: Clanwilliam: Darragh Crowe, Jack Quinlan tries; Ben Downey conversion.

Sunday’s Well: Fabian Loughrey (2), Kieran Maye, Ryan O’Donoghue-Kelleher tries; Logan Henry 4 cons.

Clanwilliam: Niall Sharpe, Michael Sharpe, Leahy, Gavin Ryan, Dylan Buckley, Ben Downey,  Mark Costigan; Niall Sharpe. Jack Quinlan; Matthew Kavanagh, Gavin Downey; Cormac Donovan, Donal Ryan; John Richardson, Noel O’Mahony, Darragh Crowe. Replacements: Kian Farrell, Ben Hickey, James Kennedy, Ben Ryan, Darragh Burke, Conor Kissane, Fergal McNamara.

Sunday’s Well: Gary Downey; r, Augustin Anuset, Alex Lane, Alex Guerin, Kieran Maye; Logan Henry, Fabian Loughrey; Evan O’Connell, Kieran Stokes, Michael McCarthy; Kevin Holland, Shane Desmond; Cormac Kelliher, Finn MacFhlannchadha, Conor O’Brien. Replacements: Eoin Aherne, Evan O’Mahoney, Aaron Beale, Mark Kelly, Peter Arigho, Ryan O’Donoghue-Kelleher. 

Sunday’s Well 27 Skibbereen  15

The ‘Well bounced back with a big and vital bonus point victory against a determined Skibbereen side at Musgrave Park. It was far from perfect; but with further players being re-integrated into the team; the ‘Well showed enough class and composure to secure the four-try victory in a tough hard-fought encounter.

Skibbereen settled into the game early and a David Kitson penalty on four minutes boosted their confidence further. They were very tenacious and applied immense pressure on the ‘Well and enforcing errors. A great interception by full-back David Shannon saw him race down the right-wing and a kick-chase saw him gather the ball over the line. With Kitson putting the West Cork men up 10-0 after almost as many minutes.

The ’Well eventually regrouped. They managed to turn the tide of penalties and eventually gain some field position. Rob O’Keeffe and Alex Guerin made some smart carries while the return of Cathal Quinn saw him grow into the game. The line-out gave them a platform to build on, with some key steals to stifle Skibb’s momentum and then set up an attacking platform.

After half an hour they got into a strong attacking position. While playing prop; Kieran Stokes took control of the line-out throw-ins and linked up with hooker Rob O’Keeffe at the front of a line-out. O’Keeffe surged towards the line and pass into O’Brien who was stopped short but he set up Cormac Kelliher who was certain to score until a high tackle as he was about to touch the ball-down. The ‘Well did get the penalty-try to reduce the arrears.

The ’Well started to get into their mojo. Cathal Quinn almost made a great burst but a last-ditch tackle saw him pushed into touch. The ‘well created another opening and Logan Henry seemed to get crowded out in the middle of the Twenty-Two. He made a chip through and with about five Sibb’ players around him, he was the one that managed to win the greasy ball and touch down. Adding the two points.

The ‘Well finished strongly and a nice blind-side move saw Stokes and O’Keeffe again combine to put Ian Casey through and establish a 19-10 lead at the break.

Ian Murphy came on in the second-half and the ‘Well were starting to demolish the Skibb’ scrum. Logan extended the lead after a bright start with a penalty but some clever kicking by Skibb’ saw them get back into the game. After immense pressure; David Kitson touched down for them.

Sunday’s Well finally sealed the game and the bonus point with a little over ten minutes remaining. A magnificent scrum saw them win a penalty, which was superbly kicked by Logan to the corner. A secure catch by O’Brien saw the ‘Well drive to the line and Murphy capped his super-sub impact with the bonus-point try.

Scorers: Sunday’s Well: Penalty Try, Logan Henry, Ian Casey, Ian Murphy tries; Logan Henry con, pen.

Skibbereen: David Kitson try, pen, con. David Shannon try

Sunday’s Well: Gary Downey; Ian Casey, Alex Lane, Alex Guerin, Cathal Quinn; Logan Henry, Fabien Loughrey; Kieran Stokes, Rob O’Keeffe, Michael McCarthy; Kevin Holland, James Mulcahy; Cormac Kelliher, Finn MacFhlannchadha, Conor O’Brien. Replacements: Evan O’Connell, Ian Murphy, Reece Mintern, Shane Desmond, Aaron Beale, David Dwyer, Emeka Asiegbu.

Skibbereen: David Shannon, Michael O’Donovan, Rory Byrne, Daniel Kingston, Cianán Coombes; David Kitson, Gavin Foley; Kieran Shannon, Dan Duggan, Daniel Cullinane; Lorcan Carey, Tomek Lechtanski; Kevin Coombes, Thomas Beare, Cillian O’Neil. Replacements: Patrick Hodnett, Cathal McCarthy, Brian Crowley, Richard Bushe, Aidan Cregan, Michael O’Sullivan.