Richmond advance in Transfield Cup
Garryowen scrum half Aaron Healy gets the ball out the line against Richmond in the Transfield Cup on Sunday
RICHMOND took a step closer to Transfield Cup success when they beat Garryowen 14-10 in an exciting encounter in Richmond Park on Sunday.
The light blues left themselves with a lot of work to do when they trailed 11-0 at the break but they certainly made a game of it in the second period, outscoring the home side 10-3.
Gareth O’Hanlon got an early try for Richmond and while Jonathon Forde missed the conversion he landed a brace of penalties to give his side that comfortable lead at the break.
Garryowen were a different side after the re-start, scoring a converted try and a penalty in the opening five minutes (try Alan Kennedy, penalty and conversion Shane O’Brien) to make it 11-10 but another penalty by Forde gave the green and whites a four point cushion that they held to the final whistle.
St Mary’s crashed out of the Munster Junior Cup when they were beaten 29-12 by Kanturk at the County Cork venue.
The Saints, who were short a few key players, were on the ropes during the opening half, conceding 24 points without reply. An improved second half saw them claw their way back into the game at 24-12 but Kanturk ensured their ticket to the next round with a late try that sealed the result.
Rob Rocket and Niall Counihan scored the St Mary’s tries with Sean Lyons kicking one conversion.
Presentation had reason to celebrate last Saturday when they lifted the Munster Junior Challenge Cup after a thrilling final in Charleville. Their 13-6 victory over Newcastle West was achieved through sheer effort and a club spirit that has brought them considerable success over the past two seasons.
Played in dreadful conditions, this decider was fiercely fought out and went right down to the wire with Newcastle claiming that they got the ball grounded over the Pres line in the final pay of the game. The referee did not agree and it was the city side’s dressingroom that rocked to the celebrations after the presentation of the trophy.
“We’re very disappointed with the result,” Newcastle West’s Ger Normoyle told us, “and there were people close to the incident that were adamant that we had got that late try, but obviously the referee didn’t see it.”
Presentation took the lead after seven minutes. Prop John Higgins broke from a maul and made good ground before placing scrum-half Kevin Donnelly who got over for the try. Mark Phayer converted to give Pres an early seven point lead. Newcastle West enjoyed long periods of possession for most that first half and a brace of penalties from the boot of Alan Roche left just a point between the sides at the break.
Presentation needed a decent start to the second half and Mark Phayer’s penalty on 46 minutes eased them into a 10-6 lead. Again the ‘West’ took control but thanks to superb defensive work by Ross Wynne, Owen Lynch and John Higgins in particular, the Rathuard boys kept their line intact.
With 20 minutes remaining, Pres supported began to scent victory when Mark Phayer successfully landed his third attempt at the posts and although Michael Culhane at blind side, Niall Kelliher at scrum half and loose head Declan Moloney tried valiantly to snatch a late seven pointer that would have brought this final into extra time, Pres held firm for another significant success for the club.
In the Webb Cup last Saturday, Scariff’s first side had a fine win over Richmond’s seconds at the Tipperary venue. It was difficult to distinguish one player from the other as this ground cut up very badly, but it was the Scariff boys who handled the conditions best to run out winners by 20 points to 10.
That result did not look likely at the break with Richmond leading 3-5. With just eight minutes remaining Scariff led 15-10 and it was a late unconverted touchdown that sealed the victory.
Pierce McCarthy scored Richmond’s first try after 15 minutes with their second try coming on 46 minutes from Alan Neilan but on the overall run of play Scariff deserved to advance to the next round of this competition.
The final of the Gleeson League between Thomond and Garryowen, arranged for the LIT grounds last Friday night was called off when the referee was of the opinion that the floodlighting was not up to the required standard.
At a time when there is a backlog of fixtures it makes one wonder why this game was arranged for the LIT venue in the first place. The game is now likely to take place in St Mary’s RFC ground in Grove Island this coming Saturday.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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