Newcastle West suffer agonising defeat in All-Ireland Junior Cup semi-final

NEWCASTLE West missed out on a place in the final of the All-Ireland Junior Cup in agonising fashion after suffering a narrow 18-17 semi-final defeat to holders Clogher Valley at Cullinagh on Saturday afternoon.

After falling 18 points in arrears early in the second half, Newcastle West produced a storming comeback, but ultimately came up short by a single point against their Ulster rivals at full-time.

Newcastle West had knocked out Connacht champions Connemara, 15-11, and last year’s beaten Energia Junior Cup finalists Ballyclare, 26-24, on route to reaching this weekend's semi-final.

Newcastle West won both the Munster Junior League and Junior Clubs Challenge Cup last season and were crowned the Munster Junior Club of the Year at the end of the season.

When Clogher Valley led 13-0 at the break in this tie, those who knew the Ulster men as strong finishers may have predicted an emphatic away win. But those who know the fighting spirit of Ger Earls‘ men weren’t surprised to see them roar back into contention.

After a scoreless opening quarter, David Maxwell kicked Clogher Valley into a 6-0 lead with two penalties.

A penalty try was awarded to Clogher three minutes before the break to make it 13-0 with the home side’s scrum under pressure. 

Newcastle West were over the line within two minutes of the restart but Sean Murphy was held up and it was Clogher Valley who struck next once Paul Armstrong broke from inside his own half and kicked deep, before Michael Bothwell touched down for an 18-0 lead.

Thunder, rain and hail soon followed as conditions worsened. Newcastle West had the wind at their backs and were looking to brew up a storm of their own.

Shane Airey kicked long for Newcastle West on the restart for the home side. Cian Tierney was the crash-ball option off the scrum before Keelan Headd barged over off the next phase for the try with Airey converting.

An Airey penalty reduced the Clogher advantage to eight points at 10-18.

Newcastle West’s drove their maul from the 22 to the five-metre line with nine minutes left. Eric Donovan carried hard off the recycle and he was on the ball again three phases later to drive low and hard under the posts, the conversion making it 18-17.

Newcastle West had an opportunity to win the game late on but Herlihy’s left-footed penalty effort was inches wide.

Clogher Valley will now face Enniskillen in an all-Ulster All-Ireland Junior Cup final on January 28.

NEWCASTLE WEST: 15 Sean Herlihy; 14 Daniel Normoyle, 13 Sean Murphy, 12 Cian Tierney, 11 Seán Ivess; 10 Shane Airey, 9 Rob Guerin; 1 TJ Relihan, 2 Eoin O’Halloran, 3 Shane Breen, 4 Gerald Griffin (Capt), 5 Alan O’Riordan, 6 James Corbett, 7 Cian Clohessy, 8 Keelan Headd. Replacements: 16 Cormac Browne, 17 Evan Donovan, 18 John Walsh, 19 Cormac Nash, 20 Cian Mulcahy, 21 Padraig Roche, 22 Michael Bourke, 23 David O’Donovan.

CLOGHER VALLEY: 15 Taine Haire; 14 Michael Bothwell, 13 Paul Armstrong (c), 12 Corneel Michem, 11 Ewan Haire; 10 David Maxwell, 9 Matthew Bothwell; 1 Michael Treanor, 2 Kyle Cobane, 3 Neil Henderson, 4 Eugene McKenna, 5 Matthew Wilson, 6 David Stinson, 7 Aaron Dunwoody, 8 Callum Smyton. Replacements: 16 Luke Allen, 17 Richard Primrose, 18 Tommi Coulter, 19 Joel Busby, 20 David Sharkey, 21 Neil Trotter, 22 Jason Bothwell, 23 Aaron Crawford.