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Cobh Pirates RFC weekly round up 14/03/2016

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pirates4001121Junior 2 Kelly Cup

Pirates travelled to Ballincollig in the Kelly Cup quarter final. Good conditions suited a young Pirates side and allowed their backline to run the ball. Clever play by scrum half Cian Connolly gave pirates a try from a quick tap penalty, converted by Cian McNamara. Ballincollig answered back with two tries, both off the back of a maul, to take the lead going into the second half.

Now with the wind, the Pirates pack provided a solid base in the second half, putting pressure on the Ballincollig forwards and leading to Aaron Gilmore finishing a great try in the corner. Solid defence from Pirates pack kept Ballincollig pinned in their half. Back rows Glen O’Sullivan and Killian Barry drove back the Ballincollig runners and forced them to kick away possession. This allowed pirates to counter attack with Adam Devlin and Shane Cullimore. Ballincollig began conceding penalties in defence and Cian Connolly converted three to take the lead and close the game out.
Finals score: Pirates 21 Ballincollig 13. Pirates go on to face the winner of Clonakilty and Shandon in the semi final in the Paddock, date to be confirmed.

South Munster Under 16 A League Semi Final
Cobh Pirates involvement in this seasons South Munster Under 16 League came to a crushing end in the Semi Final stage at the hands of near and dear neighbours Midleton, in The Paddock on Saturday last..

The first half of the game was a fairly even affair, and while Midleton took a deserving ten point lead into half time, there were enough signs that Pirates could challenge Midleton in the second half.

Unfortunately despite the Pirates best efforts, they could not overcome Midleton’s growing dominance, with Midleton running out comfortable winners in the end.

The draw for the Under 16 South Munster Cup looks likely to pitch these sides against each other at quarter final stage in early April, with Cobh Pirates long awaited floodlighting project due for completion in early April also, then maybe this repeat fixture could well be the maiden game played under the new lights.

Just like every storm runs out of rain, this group of players luck will turn and they must continue to believe in their collective ability from now until the seasons end. With Cheltenham Racing festival due to start this week there will be a lot of punters also hoping their luck will turn, and no doubt those who back Rock The Kasbah in the 2.30 pm race on Wednesday will be rewarded, sure what else would you be doing.

Cobh Pirates Under 16’s travel to Youghal on Tuesday 15th of March, for a night-time friendly, which will hopefully see them return to winning ways.
Match Day Squad:

Jim Kevany, Jack O Sullivan, Stewart Lynch, Luke Kelly, Aoran Whelan, Sam Baricaua, Bobby Kahn, Zach Devlin, Kevin O Reilly, Mark Jones, Ben O Donovan, Aoran Mehigan, Alex McCarthy, Liam Devlin Buckley, Conor Pasley, Callum King, Kevin Murphy, Cian Lynch, Olan Farrell, Leo Daly, Cian Walker, Adam Delaney, Cathal O Dea, Anthony O Regan, Eunan Mckeown, Evan Hamilton, Sean Woods, Brandon Tait, Matthew Pender, Pablo Betancost,

Match day squad; Ceilim Cole, Josh Banim, Cian Aherne, Edwin Edogbo, Tadgh O’Connell, Joshua Crone, Eoghan Kidney, Jack O’Sullivan (Capt), Kieran Devlin Buckley, Charlie Kelleher, Padraig Allen, Callum Sowter Cullinane, Darragh Mc Carthy, Oisin O’Doherty, Robbie O’Driscoll, David Meade.”

Match day squad; Ceilim Cole, Josh Banim, Cian Aherne, Edwin Edogbo, Tadgh O’Connell, Joshua Crone, Eoghan Kidney, Jack O’Sullivan (Capt), Kieran Devlin Buckley, Charlie Kelleher, Padraig Allen, Callum Sowter Cullinane, Darragh Mc Carthy, Oisin O’Doherty, Robbie O’Driscoll, David Meade.”

Cobh Pirates u14s
Pirates u14s were on back on the road today (12/03/2016) with an u14 friendly fixture away to Cork Con. The match took place in Cons pitch out in Mahon, which provided an excellent surface for running rugby, which both teams enjoyed. The teams played with great freedom and were encouraged by both sets of coaches to run the ball on every occasion. While this naturally led to a few errors it provided great excitement for all who attended as the teams shared 11 tries in all.

Stand in skipper for the day Jack O’Sullivan gave a great display from No.8 and led his charges from the start. He was well served by the half backs of Callum Sowter Cullinane and Josh Banim who moved the ball with direction and purpose at every chance. In the first half the Pirates scored 3 tries in all, 2 by bang in form winger Charlie Kelleher and another by O Sullivan following excellent work by the tight five of Oisin O’Doherty, Robbie O’Driscoll, Tadgh O’Sullivan, Darragh Mc Carthy and David Meade. O’Sullivans try was as a result of an excellent line break by Back Row Edwin Edogbo who enjoyed a fine game back in more familiar surroundings of the pack
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The second half followed the BaaBaas style rugby of the first with end to end action. Pirates attacked at every opportunity from deep and with the probing running angles of Cian Ahern and Ceilim Cole they managed to make space for both Eoghan Kidney and Padraig Allen who threatened the Con back line all game. It was the performance of Josh Crone who caught the eye of the coaches in the second half. Playing in first game he slotted in very well and made a great contribution in both supporting the ball and carrying the ball with purpose. Coach Duignam was pleased ! Pirates added 2 further tries in the 2nd half, one for Kieran Devlin Buckley following quick thinking by Josh Banim and another by Kelleher to complete his Hat Trick. The fifth and final try deserves further mention as it was a team try, with the ball going through multiple phases and passes. It was finished superbly by Kelleher after being put into space with a perfectly timed pass by Darragh Mc Carthy.

Special mention to Chief Water Boy for the day PJ Cronin…..who carried out his task with a minimum of fuss and with his standard 100% commitment.

The final score was Cork Con 35 Cobh Pirates 30 in a cracking contest. Great game of rugby, pleasure to watch, well done to all !

Cobh Pirates U13
Pirates hit the road to Fermoy last Saturday in unfamiliar sunny conditions and playing in to a light breeze in the first half let their intention known that they meant business. The pack having received some inspiring words and intensive rucking session from Philly were like greyhounds out of the traps and latched on to the kick off and following some excellent support play found themselves with a scrum inside the Fermoy half. The Pirates front Row of Oisin O’Donovan, Cian Cotter and Jack O’Donnell had the opposition immediately under pressure, Connor McNamara spotting a gap on the short side picked from the back of the scrum and supported all the way by Jay McCrossan Donnachie went in under the post for the first of the day.

The Ice cool Rory Pearce stepped up and knocked over the conversion. Mid way through the first half George Rasmussen in the unfamiliar position of second centre took a perfect line on a crash ball inside his own 22 and like a Hare sprinted the length of the pitch for an excellent individual try. Conor Giggles Kidney after an extra box of Weetabix’s for the breakfast was outstanding in the rucks and mauls along with his partner in crime Ben Kennedy had the Fermoy forwards tormented all afternoon. Philly’s intensive session were coming to the fore as pirates got the upper hand in the battle of the packs with some excellent individual displays from Killian O’Connell, Conor McNamara and Brain O’Dwyer.

Saul Kahn again magnificent in orchestrating events at Scrum Half providing clean and quick ball for Rory to unleash the back line. The Kennedy Triplets , Ben, Sam and Jake were a force to be reckoned with and anything that came within striking range was stopped in their tracks by the lads who were also phenomenal in their attacking plays linking up with Chris Ruxton on the wing to keep Fermoy back peddling which resulted in a well-deserved try from Rory Pearce. Just before half time Saul Kahn took off on a sniping run from the back of another fine Pirates Scrum to be almost de-capitated just inches from the Line. Pirates went in 19-0 at half time. The second Half commenced following a few changes due to heat exhaustion which saw Liam O’Connel partnering his cousin in the second row and Cillain McCoitir in on the wing. George Rasmussen exchanged places with Conor McNamara putting the captain in the centres. This pairing no matter what position they were put were devastating when they combined which saw Conor Mc crossing the line on 2 more occasion in the second half. To make matters worse for Fermoy Scotty Keating was introduced in at hooker and like a smiling assassin was lethal in the rucks an mauls turning over some fantastic ball for his side. Jamie Manley like a man that was shot out of a canon put in the tackle of the day straight of the bench which lay down the marker for the remainder of the game.

Fermoy put in a valiant effort in the last quarter to score a converted try but with outstanding rucking by Liam O’Connell, Daniel O’Sullivan and Dion Griffin having now taking up a positon in full back that was to be their only score. In what was excellent display from all players that took to the field in a Pirates jersey it was deemed that we could not have only one man of the match so we had two in Sam Kennedy and Conor Kidney.

Final score

Pirates 29 Fermoy 7
Fixture confirmation: The final J1 league game is away to Castleisland RFC this Sunday at 2:30pm.

This is a massive game for the Club as results on the day could decide the promoted teams to Division 1.

We Look forward to seeing a big Pirates travelling support.

South Cork Girls compete at Munster Womens Youth Sevens

The U18 Girls and U15 Girls teams competed in the first round of the Munster Womens Youth Sevens at Bandon RFC on Saturday. The event attracted over 180 girls from a wide range of clubs across Munster and it was the first time South Cork had entered a sevens tournament.

The U15s were divided into two pools, with South Cork draw against Youghal, Carrick on Suir and St Marys. First up was Youghal who got the matches opening score after two minutes, South Cork drew the match level one minute into the second half, with Pirate Rachel Keating crossing the try line. Pirate Emily Piggot secured the win with a try in the last play of the match.

Next up was Carrick on Suir, which whom South Cork matched try for try up to the final stages of the match, before Carrick bagged the match winner with 30 seconds left on the clock. Two tries for Old Christian Sarah Dennehy and one for Pirate Karla Doyle.

Their last match was against the experienced St Marys side, who they had previously faced in the 15 a side Munster Shield final a few weeks ago. St Marys scored five times in total, three in the first half and two in the second. South Cork responded with two tries, with Rachel Keating scoring in both halves.
The U18s were down for a challenging day with a total of five matches played, facing Carrick on Suir, Bantry Bay, Listowel, Shannon and Abbeyfeale. Being completely new to the format it took South Cork time to adjust to the format, yet grew through the experience. The day was to end without a win, but South Cork put up a serious challenge to Shannon and where unlucky to lose on a try count of three to two.
The sevens finals day will be held on Saturday 9th April at Carrick on Suir RFC

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