Disappointed Tullamore relegated back to junior ranks after ten years in senior rugby

AN All-Ireland Rugby League Division 2C campaign to forget has ended in bitter disappointment for Tullamore Rugby Club as they bow out of senior ranks after ten years there.

Often in the race for promotion since going into the All-Ireland League in 2015, Tullamore found the going tough the whole way this season and have been relegated after finishing bottom of the table with eighteen points from their eighteen games.

Tullamore won just two games and drew one but fifteen defeats saw them finish with a scoring difference of -143 points and six points behind the ninth placed Omagh Academicals.

One of Tullamore's most cherished sporting clubs, they were delighted delighted to make senior rugby after a great run in the early 2010s.

They won the All-Ireland Junior Cup in 2009, 2012 and 2013, as well as winning the holy grail of Leinster junior rugby, the Provincial Towns Cup in 2013 – the Provincial Towns Cup has a great emotional hold on junior rugby clubs in Leinster and the Tullamore teams that won it in 1946, 1960, 1976 and 2006 have been long celebrated.

Relegation means that they go back to junior rugby and will play in Division 1A of the Leinster League next year. They will be hoping to bounce back up quickly but that is no easy journey and promotion to senior rugby is fiercely fought across the four provinces.

Tullamore's campaign ended on a downer last Saturday with a heavy 51-27 defeat by fourth placed Ballyclare up in Antrim. The damage, however, had been done much earlier and the season just never ignited for Tullamore who were on the back foot the whole way.

They were unlucky in several games, losing out on crucial points by just one score but they also contributed to their own misfortune. They struggled to close out games and the concession of some calamitous late scores saw victory snatched from their grasp on a couple of occasions – condemning them to devastating defeats and eventually breaking their spirit.

An example of this was a heartbreaking one point defeat to Belfast Harlequins a couple of months ago when Tullamore had the ball and a 20-18 lead with the clock ticking down towards the red. Unfortunately, they couldn't keep possession, Belfast swept forward and were able to snatch a match winning penalty. That was Tullamore's most dramatic, gut wrenching defeat but there were other ones where they spurned golden opportunities, letting their opponents off the hook. Harlequins were the league leaders at that stage while Tullamore also lost by a point, 21-10, to Clonmel in their penultimate game as they fought desperately to preserve their status - it was a season of very thin lines for a very hard working Tullamore side.

They were close to the table toppers, Enniscorthy when losing 15-10 in Wexford on March 22 while they drew with them in Tullamore way back in October. They could hold their own against every team in the Division on any given day but consistency was a problem and they just couldn't win enough games. They had to wait until December 14 for their first win, a 17-10 triumph over Omagh Academicals in round 9 in Tullamore and their only other win was in Omagh, 19-13, on January 11.

A succession of early defeats piled quick pressure on them and they struggled to field their full strength team in the early weeks – some players had GAA commitments as the Offaly club championships concluded while they were also hit by injuries, retirements and defections to other clubs, resulting in a young and somewhat inexperienced team being fielded in some games.

Things could have went very differently if they had won a couple of the games they lost so agonisingly and the spin off on their confidence and morale would have been huge. Instead, the opposite happened and a sense of crisis was prevalent from a long way out as relegation loomed and they couldn't get their heads above water. Generally competitive, Tullamore also had some bad days at the office when they were well beaten and they now face into a rebuilding phase.

They have a buoyant club, fielding plenty of teams at all levels and they have very impressive facilities in Spollanstown. It is, however, a definite blow to lose senior status and the big challenge for Tullamore will be retaining their best young players as they emerge from youths into adult ranks – some of these will be good enough and will want to play in senior rugby and Tullamore will be working hard to get back up there.