Domestic Round-Up | Newcastle West add League honours to Challenge Cup title

It was another successful weekend of the Limerick contingent in the Munster Junior League.

Newcastle West were crowned Munster Junior League winners for the first time in the club’s history after a deserving 50-10 win over Muskerry in their final league game at Ballyanly and are now the 14^th club to have lifted this trophy.

They now qualify for the All Ireland Round Robin semi-final where they will face the Ulster Junior League champions on Saturday week in Navan.

Newcastle West raced into an early lead with a try from Charlie O’Doherty. Further tries by Keelan Headd and Shane Airey both converted by O’Doherty gave the visitors a 19-5 half time lead.

O’Doherty added a penalty early in the second half before a strong finish from Newcastle West yielded two tries from Sean O’Halloran and one each by Sean Herlihy and Sean Murphy. O’Doherty converted three of the tries and Dave Foley the other.

The victory comes a week after the side beat Clanwilliam in the Munster Junior Clubs’ Challenge Cup Final.

St Mary’s kept their hopes of a top two finish in Section C alive, when they took over top spot after their 18-17 win over Ballincollig at Tanner Park. Eoin Healy and Andy McKenzie scored tries for the Saints and Paul Loughran kicked two penalties and a conversion. Jason O’Connor replied with a try for Ballincollig and Charlie Boland kicked four penalties.

Full time and we come away with the win. Final score reads @BallincolligRFC 17-18 Saints. Well done lads. Best of luck to Ballincollig for the rest of the season #oneloaf

— St Marys RFC Limerick (@MarysRFC) March 20, 2022

Ennis defeated leaders Tralee 22-8 in Section D with two tries from Mark Cabey and four penalties by Colm Kearney. Dan O’Connor replied with a try for Tralee and Seamus Lyne kicked a penalty.

Killorglin’s 26-12 bonus point away at Waterford City sees them finish top of this section. Stephen Cotter scored two tries for Killorglin and Darragh O’Shea and Seamus Doyle got one each. Luke O’Shea kicked three conversions.

Kinsale completed their campaign with a 14 -7 away win over Scariff. Damien Kozik and Dan Horgan scored tries for Kinsale and Dylan Lacey converted both. Prop Tom O’Neill scored his first ever try for Scariff and Jason Monaghan converted.

Congratulations to our seniors who defeated Waterford City today 26-12 to secure a bonus point win and retain their division 2 status for next season. Well done to all the players and management on a great result and a great achievement. #PuckRugby pic.twitter.com/3uO6StzhZZ

— Killorglin Rugby (@killorglinrugby) March 20, 2022

Conference E leaders Castleisland moved closer to moving up the rankings after their 13-7 home win over Bantry Bay. Mike Cronin scored a try for Castleisland and Joe Sheehy converted and also added two penalties. Paidi McCarthy replied with a try for Bantry and Sean McCarthy converted.

Tipperary defeated Kerry 10-5 in the Women’s Division 1 League at Thurles. Kaitlyn Callanan scored a try for the Tipperary side and Megan Callanan converted and also added a penalty. Rebecca Reilly replied with a try for the Kerry side.

Two tries by Beth Hayes was not enough for Bantry Bay who lost at home to Waterpark 12-10 in their encounter in the Women’s Division 2 Cup.