Munster U-16 Plate, Killarney v Kanturk, 11/1/20, played at Kanturk

Match report by Stephen O'Brien, Fantastic photo by Gemma Kelly

Killarney 20 - Kanturk 0

Killarney’s under 16’s were on the road this week for their clash with Kanturk in the third round of the Munster under 16 plate in what were miserably wet conditions both underfoot and overhead. Despite this there was a good turnout and sense of intent from the squad as they sought to address some less than satisfying performances in earlier rounds. Honesty from the players in particular prevailed in the pre-match team talk & as a result 22 focused minds emerged from the dressing rooms & wasted no time in letting it be seen that they were in no mood to allow Kanturk take early comfort from the home surroundings. They took the game to Kanturk right from the off with absolutely no quarter given & physically delivered an early signal of intent with unrelenting aggression. The half back pairing of Hugh O’Malley & Harry Kelly marshalled the pack & backline to great effect leading to the backs forcing a penalty inside the Kanturk ’22, the resultant spell of pressure led to an early try from the human bullet that is Dara Looney in the corner to give Killarney the start they wanted and a 5-0 lead after 5 minutes.

Kanturk made efforts to lift the siege but only saw the Killarney ’22 twice in the first half and were on merely flying visits as the black & red army laid siege to Kanturk and held them at the bottom of the hill in their own half for virtually the whole first half. Some brilliant play form Callum O’Gready ensured that clearing kicks were repeatedly run straight back at Kanturk with venom, ensuring no appreciable gains were made from the efforts.

Killarney deserved the half time margin & more but despite the dominance, 5-0 ahead is how the first half finished. The half time regroup saw the intensity ramped up as they all took great encouragement and confidence from seeing how the improvements in their defensive organisation was taking effect. Many thanks must go to Fiona Reidy for her help & insight in recent training sessions.

From the start of the 2nd half & playing uphill now the Killarney lads again showed they meant business and having taken the game once again to the Kanturk ’22 shunned the option of a very kickable penalty but instead went for the jugular with a smartly executed tap penalty bulldozed over the line by Cormac Rowe for a 2nd try to open a 10 point gap. Now Killarney could smell blood in the water and sustained pressure on the Kanturk pack & in particular at the lineout lead to possession & territory for Killarney to thrive off in very greasy conditions. Callum O’Gready continued scything up the wing in possession causing panic in the Cork boy’s ranks and there was no let up as Mike O’Donoghue & Pierce Slattery also caused severe damage in both attack and defence once introduced from the bench along with Donncha Coffey and to freshen up a team that had put in a huge effort.

A sweeping backline attacking move swept across the pitch from left to right as Killarney once again showed no mercy to the now struggling defence and was finished off for a well-deserved try for the war-wounded Josh Coffey who toiled all day in his unmissable but very fetching head-bandage & got the ball down in a maze of bodies in the corner to stretch the lead to 15 points & snuff out any faint hopes of Kanturk somehow making a match of the game in the closing stages with Harry Kelly very unlucky to hit the post with his conversion attempt on a slippery day for goal kicking. All subs had been well introduced to the fray at this point & they too wanted their satisfaction and continued to turn the screw as Killarney relentlessly attacked to put their dominance on the score board and the issue beyond any doubt with out-half Harry Kelly crossing in the corner once again to make it 4 tries and the score 20-0 at the death.

Next round of the Plate competition is the 1st of February away to Clanwilliam RFC, in Tipperary Town.

Team on the day; Finn Kennelly, Dara Looney, Josh Coffey, Mike Moriarty, Callum O’Gready, Harry Kelly, Hugh O’Malley, Chris Doody, Cengizhan Koyun, Daire O’Brien, Ger McCarthy, Shane McAllister, Darragh McCormick, Stephen Walsh, Cormac Rowe.

Subs: Pierce Slattery, Mike O’Donoghue, Cameron Rowe, Darren Ryan, Arthur Gaultier, Stephen Dalton, Sean Dineen.