Rugby fixtures decimated by weather
IT was a disastrous day for Munster Junior Rugby on Sunday as the weather came out the winner on a much anticipated cup weekend.
Four local sides were scheduled to go into battle in the Munster Junior Cup, Munster Junior Plate and the Bowl, however, with the widespread disruption to pitches around the country it was inevitable that some local games would suffer.
Tralee's game with Old Christians and Killorglin's away fixture at Bantry both failed to make it to post.
The only survivor for the area in the top cup competition was Newcastle West's home tie with Shannon. Round four is where the big name sides enter the fray and the home team would have been well aware of the pedigree Shannon bring to the table.
This was always going to be a tough ask for Newcastle West, and although they came out on the wrong side of the final score line, they did deserve great credit for the way they went about their attempted giant killing exercise. Shannon's Ben Sargent converted a Cillian O'neill try in the opening period to give them a slender lead at the turn while Alan Roche kept the underdogs in touch with two opening period penalties.
A try from Aaron Spring after the break for the victors pushed them even further clear but another penalty from Roche made for an interesting last 10 minutes.
Newcastle West threw everything they had at the visitors looked like they could cause a giant upset – but an intercepted try from Brain Downey in the final minute which was converted again by Sargent put the result beyond doubt.
The 21-9 final score line was in no way a true reflection on what had gone before, but great sides always find a way and Shannon are a great side. Great credit is due to the Newcastle West side for the way they went about the challenge and the game time against a club like Shannon will only benefit them going into the future.
Abbeyfeale's game away to Ballincollig also managed to beat the weather in the Munster Junior Plate. The west Limerick side made up for the disappointment suffered by Newcastle West as they took the spoils by 24-7 at Tanner Park.
Tries from Thomas Enright, Micheal Enright and Micheal Roche put Abbeyfeale in a dominant position and with the third Enright ( Thomas) adding the extra points on all three occasions – as well as slotting over a penalty the result was rarely in doubt.
Ballincollig did have one moment of cheer as Rory Owens touched down for the home side but the winning margin did reflect the dominance displayed by Abbeyfeale.
With the weekend ahead scheduled for a break week it is possible that some fixtures which failed to get the off last Sunday may be rescheduled later in the week.
- Diarmuid Sheehan
