Tullamore junior 3s clinch Anderson Cup following final replay
Great double for thirds
Tullamore Rugby Club captured their 12th Towns Cup in 18 finals on Saturday afternoon after a rampant 2nd half display against Ashbourne RFC.
These 2 teams could not be separated the previous Sunday after a thrilling 100 minute game finished 11-all.
The scene was perfectly set in North Kildare Sports Grounds. The sun beaming and a light breeze blowing down the pitch into the clubhouse end.
Both teams were much changed from the previous week. Colin Draper, Cian OSullivan and Ronan Hooper all fell victim to the attrition of the previous Sunday.
Tullamore were the creators of their own misfortune in the early exchanges. A poorly managed kick off resulted in an Ashbourne lineout deep in the Tullamore 22. Several phases later their Number 8 crashed over and with the conversion left the score 7-0 after 3 minutes.
Things went from bad to worse moments later when Tullamore received 2 yellow cards. David Dunican & Adam Hughes falling victim to some ‘fussy’ refereeing. Ashbourne missed the kick at goal from the resulting penalty leaving the score at 7-0.
To their credit Tullamore rolled up their sleeves at this point, when the game looked to be getting away from them. Front row forwards Cronin, Feighery & Roe all carried well, against a teak tough Ashbourne defence. Tulliers eventually forced a penalty which full back Gary Cantwell converted. Tullamore now back to 15 and the score 7-3.
Ashbourne finished the half the stronger and added another deserved try to leave the score at the break 12-3.
Fionan Redmond and Gary Pyke were sprung from the bench at half time and had the desired effect. Some strong carries from aforementioned, along with Matthew Murphy got Tullamore into the Ashbourne 22. Some neat hands from Tom Gilligan and Cantwell allowed Mark McGrath to scamper in in the corner. Conversion missed leaving the score 12-8.
Another Gary Cantwell penalty made the score 12-11 before Cantwell added a converted try of his own to see Tullamore take the lead for the first time in the game on 55 minutes. 18-12.
Cantwell kept going with another penalty and then converted a try from the dynamic Stephen Pyke to essentially kill off the game. 20 points in 8 minutes that flipped this game completely on its head. 28 points to 12.
To their credit Ashbourne battled well for the remainder of the game, knowing their goose was cooked. The score would remain 28-12 until full time.
This was a very balanced performance from a Tullamore team littered with talent. Up front, Cronin had a fine game, as did John & David Dunican. The lineout was a constant source of clean ball thanks to Hickey, Connolly & Feighery!
In the backs the versatile Jarlath Glynn had an excellent game 9 while Lynch, Gilligan & Cahill had lovely moments in midfield.
One of the points of difference in the outcome of this game was the impact of the substitutes. Gilligan, Redmond, Murphy and Pyke gave Tullamore go forward ball following their introductions.
The writers man of the match is Abbeyleix man Gary Cantwell. He looked very assured in the backfield when Tullamore were struggling in the 1st half, and finished the game with 18 points.
That concludes the season for the J3s, who finish with a league & Cup double.
Team & Squad: James Roe, Cathal Feighery, Dan Cronin, Odhran Hickey, John Connolly,
John McQuade, John Dunican, David Dunican, Adam Hughes, Rory Lynch, Mark McGrath, Essie JVR, Jarlath Glynn, Niall McCabe, Gary Cantwell, Matthew Murphy, Stephen Pyke, Fionan Redmond, Tiarnan Quinn, Tom Gilligan, James Rabbitte, Ben Hensey, Jake Kenny, Eoghan OConnor, Eoin Dixon, Ronan Hooper, Ian Gorman, Killian Dunne & Colin Draper