Munster U16 Development Cup quarter-final: Killarney vs Carrick-on-Suir - match report by Seamus Grealy
A strong imposing Carrick on Suir team travelled to Castleisland to take on Killarney in this intense quarter final encounter played in atrocious weather conditions on Sun 10th.
Killarney played with the strong elements at their back in the first half and after some initial even exchanges launched a telling attack from their own half. Scrum half Peter Walsh fed Donnchadh Grealy who broke the defensive line, Ozdenis Koyun continued the move before releasing fellow centre Tomas Clifford whose arching run outpaced the scrambling Carrick rear guard. The slotted conversion proved very important in the end.
Killarney found it difficult to harness the elements and add to their advantage as primary possession was eluding them. Carrick totally dominated lineoout exchanges and their large pack mopped up any isolated runners. Mid way through the half Killarney did threaten the line, cleverly running a number of penalties that resulted in Darren Cronin and Dan Twomey finding a gap out wide on the left before linking with fullback Liam Randles who cut back at speed but was hauled down just short of the line. A stopstart first half petered out in a hailstorm and the speed of the lads sprinting to the dressing room on the halftime whistle was commendable. It certainly looked at this stage that a 7 point lead would not be enough for victory.
Now with the wind at their back Carrick kicked long from the restart and following a well worked line out reversed a pass to their hulking prop Sean Mullarkey who crashed over in the corner. The conversion missed narrowly. Enjoying the majority of possession the visitors chased a lead but found a tough defensive line difficult to breach. Props Rob Nealon and Adam Cronin tackled bravely with fellow forwards Brendy O Donoghue, John McCarthy, Czgengis Koyun, Shane McAllister and Mike O Donoghue competing ferociously for hard yards. Carrick put trust in their backs to finish and on several occasions came close. Try saving tackles were made by ever valiant Padraig Talbot, Liam Randles, Donnchadh Grealy, and Mikey Moriarty.
Cleverly, Killarney slowed down the tempo, kicked low into the wind and ran any scrum wins up blindside avenues to gain yards and lift the siege. The pressure mounted even further when Killarney were reduced to 14 men for a second illegal tackle for the remaining minutes. Now camped in the 22 Carrick turned down opportunities to kick penalties and persevered in moving ball wide but were ultimately unable to unlock the home defence. One final knock-on brought joyous roars from the Killarney faithful who had braved the elements. The final score Killarney 7 Carrick on Suir 5.
Major thanks to Castleisland RFC who made their superb facilities available on short notice and on this occasion a word of recognition for Manager John O Connell who managed to get the fixture played.
Killarney now play in the semi final in two weeks time against Waterford or Nenagh.
