Sunday’s Well 31 Clonakilty 20

Sunday’s Well produced another four-try performance; their fifth in seven League games with another display of enterprising invigorating attacking rugby on the main pitch at Virgin Media Park. Against a very tough and confident Clonakilty, they managed a tough first-half into the wind before gradually pulling away. In driving wind and rain, with a slippery ball that as difficult to hold; the ‘Well emerged on top as both sides showed great skills and determination to provide an extremely entertaining fare for the sizable supporters.

Alex Lane; on the right-wing has turned into an incredible try-scoring machine, while of course being prominent around the open-field. He scored the last two tries to secure the bonus point as the ‘Well established a 18-13 lead before. The first try of his came after sustained pressure and receiving the ball on the touch-line with defenders closing in; he just put his head down and powered through the tackle.

The try of the game came minutes after, just before the hour mark in the game. Kees Pereka made a formidable surge up into the Twenty-Two and with the Clon’ defence scrambling; the impeccable Ciaran Maguire decided to forego the normal passing option and put a clever and superbly weighted chip towards Lane; who wasn’t too far away on the right-wing; allow Lane to race forward and gather the ball; step inside and again force his way over the line.

The ’Well played into the strong wind in-the first half. The ‘Well struck the first blow; after a magnificent dominant scrum. Great carries by Evan O’Connell and Jacob Lane put them in a strong attacking position that saw them awarded a penalty which Maguire duly knocked over. Rob Howick responded with a kick for Clon’, after centre Henry Miles was held up – but an advantage was being played to the West Cork club.

Miles got his try soon after; being set-up by Howick who also converted. However, the ‘Well wouldn’t trail for long. The always lively Fabien Loughrey was managing the tempo and a constant threat around the fringes. A quick tap put the opposition on the backfoot and Finn MaCFhllannchadha; who persistently made dominant dynamic carries surged over the line, with Maguire levelling the scores.

Both sides continued to look to spread the ball out. Harry McHenry made some strong breaks with Kees Pereka making some great incisive offloads. However; it was just a pair of penalties that were exchanged – to leave the scores level at 13 points apiece at the break.

With the wind in their favour; the ‘Well made a quick start to the second-half. Captain Finn was held up; but the ‘Well like Clon’ replicated the earlier situation their opposition had. Luke Jordan made a great burst to the line and Cormac Kelliher followed up to get the score.

Then the game turned into the Alex Lane show; not only as he notched his two tries but also made a magnificence 50-22 kick after the ‘Well produced a mammoth defensive play – eventually turning over possession. It was a great effort on both sides of the ball; with David O’Dwyer coming to the fore at full-back under the high ball in extremely difficult conditions.

There was a late consolation for the game visitors; for whom prop forward William Tyner caught the eyes with regular carries. Miles again got in for a try – but the ‘Well closed the game out to sniff out any chance of a comeback with Maguire kicking a penalty at the death to seal the victory.

Scorers: Sunday’s Well:  Finn MacFhlannchadha, Cormac Kelliher, Alex Lane (2) tries; Ciaran Maguir3 pens, con.

Clonakilty: Henry Miles 2 tries; Rob Howick 2 pens, 2 cons.

Sunday’s Well: David O’Dwyer; Alex Lane, Harry McHenry, Andrew O’Callaghan, Emeka Asiegbu;  Ciaran Maguire, Fabien Loughrey; Evan O’Connell, Dylan Cooper, Mike McCarthy; Jacob Lane, Robert Loftus; Kees Pereka, Finn MacFhlannchadha, Cormac Kelliher. Replacements: Sean McDermott, Luke Jordan, David Hourigan, Andrew Mintern, Robert Egar, Ryan O’Donoghue-Kelleher, Eric Kingston.

Clonakilty: Rob Howick; Ben Lovell, Kieran Howlin, Henry Miles, Conor Hayes; Ryan O’Donnell, Patrick McCarthy; William Tyner, Tom Doyle, David Jennings; Maurice Downey, Eoin Murphy; Donnacha Walsh, Cian Downey, Olan Deane. Replacements: Ciaran McCarthy, Jack Burton, Fionn Murphy, Finian Neville, Sean Flood, Luke McCarthy, Mark Purcell.

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.

Sunday’s Well 36 Newcastle West 7

It was another scintillating attacking showpiece from the ‘Well on the main pitch at Virgin Media Park, as they ran in a five-try salvo to secure successive bonus point victories in the Junior League. The bonus point was achieved by half-time with a  31-0 lead after a half of some of the most exhilarating power running rugby seen for a few years.

It was a great team performance; with some powerful foundations laying the platform for some of the enterprising play being undertaken. The likes of Mike McCarthy, John Costello and Kees Pereka hit hard around the fringes, both in the attack and the defence and laid a lot of the foundations to create space for their team-mates out wide.

There was great cohesion in the attacks, with the running lines of Finn MacFhlannchadha and Cormac Kelliher setting up chances for others out wide. Andrew ‘Bully’ O’Callaghan probably started the show with a  magnificent break up the middle in the opening minutes to turn defence into attack and start building the pressure on the Newcastle West defence. ‘Bully’ partnered well with Harry McHenry outside him; while the back three were a consistent potent threat throughout.

The initial Bully break created the penalty situation that saw Ciaran Maguire slot the kick over for the opening score. Maguire, who controlled the flow of the game at out-half with Fabien Loughrey inside him then kicked another penalty into the 22. A superb drive saw the maul bought down just short of the line. A series of strong carries by Mike McCarthy, Captain Finn and Fabs continued to exert pressure before Minty made his way over the line. His second try in as many week; though it should be three as he effectively should be credited with last weekend’s penalty-try.

The  ‘Well continued to play with a  dynamic vim and vigour. The line-out; directed by the livewire Dylan Cooper proved a constant threat and it set the platform for another attack. With some strong follow up carries; pulling Newcastle defenders in tight; allowing the ball to be spread out with the experience head of Mariano Cosimi touching down.

Another similar move; saw Robert Loftus create a great front-foot drive that allowed Fabien Loughrey snipe around the edge for the third try. Alex Lane finished off the try-fest of a first-half following a sublime break by Cormac Kelliher. Lane ran a magnificent support line; taking out the three retreating defenders when CK made the pass.

The second-half was much more even; with Newcastle West eager to make a fightback. There were moments for each team; but the ‘Well defended tenaciously with some massive hits around the fringes, while Mariano Cosimi and Emeka Asiegbu managed the defence out-wide when space was created; halting several scoring chances.

After sustaining pressure, the ‘Well broke off a scrum on their own five-metre line; with replacement Ryan O’Donoghue Kelliher making a great break out of the Twenty-Two.  Emeka Asiegbu was on hand to bring play to half-way before making a great in-field kick leading to an attacking scrum. A powerful solid drive allowed Fabien to break on the blind-side and set up Lane for his third try in two weeks. 

NCW eventually made a breakthrough with Sean Murphy touching down.

Scorers: Sunday’s Well: Alex Lane (2), Andrew Mintern, Fabien Loughrey, Mariano Cosimi tries; Ciarán Maguire 4 cons, pen.

Newcastle West: Sean Murphy try. James Guina con.

Sunday’s Well: Mariano Cosimi; Alex Lane, Harry McHenry, Andrew O’Callaghan, Emeka Asiegbu; Ciaran Maguire, Fabien Loughrey; Evan O’Connell, Dylan Cooper, Michael McCarthy; Andrew Mintern, John Costello; Kees Pereka, Finn MacFhlannchadha, Cormac Kelliher. Replacements: Sean McDonald, Robert Loftus., David Hourigan, Jacob Lane, Rob Maher, Ryan O’Donoghue-Kelleher, Alex Guerin.

Newcastle West: James Guina, Daniel Normoyle, Liam Treacy, Sean Murphy, Sean Darcy; Michael Bourke, Jack Grimes; Shane Breen, Kieran Copse, John Walsh; Gerald Griffin, Alan O’Riordan; Padraig Roche, Jason Woulfe, Cian Mulcahy. Replacements: Cormac Browne, Robert O’Donovan, TJ Relihan, Paudie Kelly, Jack Corkery, Giorgi Kilasonia, Andrew Mortell.