Saturday march 11th will forever be in the minds of the lads from Killarney u14 squad. The day started with the trip from Aghadoe to Tralee RFC. On arrival there was a sense of purpose. The excitement of the weeks previous was now a reality. Plans had been made and practiced. Final words of encouragement were shared. The guys were ready and were determined to work for each other until the final whistle.
Castleisland we knew would never give up easily. A hard battle for possession ensued from the start. The opening try was scored by centre Liam Randles with some great support work from the forwards at the 5 minute mark. A line break by Brendan O Donoghue with excellent line running on the outside by Rian Colleran nearly saw the second try but Rian was stopped yards from the line. Castleisland countered and a classic tackle by Mikey Moriarty on the Castleisland no 8 was a prime example of how to legally tackle and stop a bigger player.
On 20 minutes a brilliant break by Tomas Clifford made the score 10 to 0. This proved to be the last score of the game. At half time Killarney knew that Castleisland would up the pressure and this was definitely the case. On numerous times Castleisland were held on the line by courageous defending from the Killarney boys. The crowd were very vocal in their support for their teams and while the match ended rather quickly the result was Killarney were West Munster U14 League Champions for 2017.
The squad that lined out on the day were Adam Cronin – solid in the scrum. Brendan O Donoghue- made some great line breaks. Odeniz Koyun – a powerful tackler and scrummager. Darren Cronin – controlled the line outs with second row partner John McCarthy who also tackled like a lion. The flanks were superbly controlled by both Ruairi Coughlan and Captain Padraig Talbot along with our No 8 Bailey O Sullivan who put their bodies on the line time and time again.
Peter Walsh continued to pile the pressure on his opposite number at scrums and controlled the ball out to out half Donnacha Grealy who straightened the line on a number of occasions and provided some great ball to the centre partnership of Liam Randles and Tomas Clifford. Both proved their mettle and deserved the scores made. The wings were very busy in the second half with some great defending from Mikey Moriarty and Rian Colleran. James Kennelly confirmed that he has made the full back position his with some great line breaks. Subs on the day were Samuel Behal, Sean Hickey, Shane McAllister, Josh Campbell, Harry Kelly and Cormac Rowe and while they did not step on to the pitch of ply on the day remain a vital part of the team especially in raising the standard and fight for places in various positions.
As coaches we are very proud of every member of the squad that turn up week after week. Thanks to all players and parents for your dedication and support. The win was well earned and deserved after the focus put in this year. With the league now over its time to turn our attention to the Cup competition. Seamus, Eoin and John.