Rugbaí Chorca Dhuihne too strong for Reds

Our Red squad went down to a defeat by a stronger RCD team on sunny Saturday lunchtime kickoff. Winning the toss - we opted to play down the slope in the first half. Corca Dhuibhne had beaten Tralee comprehensively in their first match so although buoyed by the win against Listowel, the lads were aware this was going to be a stiff assignment.

The initial proceedings were well matched - we defended well from RCD pressure and when in possession showed good continuity in recycling at rucks as Shane Morrissey and the Gabbett brothers made ground. However, despite the bright start, RCD made the initial breakthrough with a try after 10 minutes. This was rapidly followed by a second try after a loose kick.

Killarney Red struck back just before half time with a well worked try. We'd already shown RCD that we had speed on the wing. Good ball-carrying and hard work at the rucks brought us into the RCD 22 and when the ball was again recycled from the ruck scrum-half Paddy Moore fed debutant 10 Cathal Sugrue. Cathal took a clever line - stepping back inside to his left across the defence who were drifting left in anticipation of the ball being spread wide to winger Oisín Fleming - giving himslef a clear run to the line to touchdown to the left of the posts. Cathal converted his own try. Half time came and we were only a score down.

The second half started poorly - conceding 2 tries quickly after the restart - both inspired by RCD's no.12 who was the dominant player on the pitch. With the game out of sight - the lads stuck to their tasks. No further scores ensued great defensive work kept RCD quiet - notably some huge tackles by Mark Brosnan and Ciaran Doody. In turn Corca Dhuibhne showed their defensive abilities to stop our wingers John Sexton and Oisín Fleming, and heavy ball carriers Shane, Jack and Arthur. It was a huge performance by the whole team who played the entire game without subs against an older and stronger team. Credit also to Killian Collins and David Courtney who left the field to head to a soccer match in Tralee.

Black grind out a win versus Abbeyfeale

The Black team took a long time to put this game away as Abbeyfeale put up a fighting performance at Aghadoe. The previous week's results counted for very little as Abbeyfeale pushed Killarney very hard with some great running and ball carrying from their 10. Killarney opened the scoring with a try from Adam Lynch Herlihy who scored from close range. The strong wind made the conversion from a sharp angle impossible. Centres Mark Kennelly and Bryan Walsh made some very good breaks with strong direct running but lack of supporting runners and good Abbeyfeale defence meant that attacks petered out. Our defence - led by captain Gearóid O'Connor - kept Abbeyfeale at bay - and despite some promising Abbey attacks, we were well in control defensively.

Half time score was 5-0 and the game remained in the balance. For much of the second half, the game swung back and forth in a similar fashion to the first half. Killarney then managed another close range try in the corner but without a conversion the game remained well balanced. The result - if not the score - was settled when Killarney exerted huge pressure on the Abbeyfeale line. After 3 or 4 ruck recycles sub flanker Jack Gabbett scored from close range - smartly sneaking around the corner from the base of the ruck to score by the posts. A simple conversion put the game beyond doubt. Killarney added to their total with a fine solo try from right winger Jack Donoghue. Tension relieved - we emptied the benches to give our subs and new recruits a runout. Abbeyfeale showed they were still game with two tries to have the final word.

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