Club News 16.10.18 Lotto Jackpot €17,000
Mitchelstown Rugby Club
Junior 1 Division 3 league
A quiet weekend for the men’s team, with many grateful for the break. Next Sunday sees the long trip to Killorglin, which is a tough place to visit at any time.
Best wishes to all for the coming week.
Girls Rugby Under 16
Training this week will be in Currabowen at 8pm Wednesday evening. Please be ready to go on the field, remember your gum shields. Despite there being a full fixture list, no other team seems to be capable of lining out at present, so we must wait for our first opponents.
Boys Rugby Under 14
Youghal 31 Mitchelstown 25
On a beautiful morning after Storm Callum, our Under 14’s travelled last Sunday to Youghal RFC for the first round of the south Munster under 14 Development League. Everyone in attendance was excited to get the match underway.
The Mitchelstown squad on the day was as follows: Jack McGrath (Capt.) Sam McGrath, Aaron Hickey, Tommy Long, Stephen Flynn, Brendan O’Donoghue, Conor Dowling, Conor Wiley, Josh Kearney, Declan Moriarty, Jack O’Grady, Andrew McEnerney, Leon Fitzharris, Cormac Luddy and Jack O’Brien
On a beautiful morning with the sun shining, Youghal kicked off, as they would continue to do for the rest of the game. Youghal’s tactic was to kick deep. A good chance from Youghal put pressure on Mitchelstown to clear their lines leading to a line-out for Youghal in the Mitchelstown 22. A surprise move at the front of the line-out, led to a try for Youghal in the corner. They miss the conversion making the 5-0. This served as the wake-up call for Mitchelstown and they dominated the next 15 mins. This proved too strong for Youghal as after several phases of play and some great carries by Declan and Leon. Tommy went over for Mitchelstown’s first score of the game with some slick footwork. He followed up with the conversion to make the score 7-5 in favour of Mitchelstown.
Youghal, even though they were the bigger team, continued to kick deep to try and put Mitchelstown under pressure. Conor Wiley at fullback for Mitchelstown put in a great performance under the high ball, often starting the Mitchelstown attacks. Conor gathered supremely and ran back immediately to put Mitchelstown on the front foot. With some good hands Mitchelstown got the ball wide quickly to Leon who went on one of his trademark runs down the wing. After some phases of play deep in the Youghal half, Leon got the ball back to finish off under posts for a try with Tommy converting again.
Youghal ended the half the stronger, scoring 2 tries using their bigger pack and their aggression at the breakdown. They only convert one of these tries, leaving the score 17-14 at the break and setting up the second to be a great half of rugby.
After some back and forth between the 2 teams after the 2nd half kicked off, Youghal won a scrum just outside the Mitchelstown 22. As they had done in the first half Youghal used their bigger pack to get the push and their number 8 picked from the base and drove over the try line. Youghal converted to make the score 24-14. Mitchelstown responded strongly again, controlling the vast majority of the ball for the following 10 minutes and after some great offloading and breakdown work, Jack McGrath was stopped an inch short of scoring a try.
Youghal however scored against the run of play, with a suspected intentional knock –on by Youghal being missed by the referee, they scored under the posts to make the score 31-14 with 5 mins to play. Our Mitchelstown lads were very disappointed to be down by 17 points in a game in which they were playing the better rugby. Mitchelstown rallied greatly and staged an amazing comeback, led by star man on the day Tommy Long who after some hard work by his teammates broke down the blindside from his own half and go all the way to score his 2nd of the game. With jack McGrath converting, to give Tommy a well-earned break to catch his breath. The score was now 31-21 and Youghal began to panic and it showed. Lightning struck twice as Tommy went down the blindside once more and was almost in again, only for a great tackle by the Youghal winger. The support runners were there for Mitchelstown to secure the ball and after a few phases of play Tommy managed to score his hat-trick try with the last play of the game. The match finished, 31-26, not the result we wanted but a great performance on the day. The support from the parents was brilliant as it was all last season and of course all our players who gave everything in the match. We would also like to thank Youghal for their hospitality after the game and the referee for officiating. Our next league game will be at home to Midleton on Saturday 27th of October, we look forward to seeing everyone at Currabowen. If you have any queries or an interest in joining the team please visit our website www.mitchelstownrugby.com. All our coaches contact details are available. Our under 14’s train every Thursday at 7:30pm at Currabowen. (Match report courtesy of Sean Molloy)
Mini Rugby – CBS Field
All mini rugby from 5 -11 years of age now takes place on Sunday mornings at 11.00am., by kind permission of the CBS. All are assured of a warm welcome, and fun is the order of the day. Throughout the year there will be blitz tournaments and other interesting days to enjoy, and many opportunities for parents to get involved, but only if they want to!!
The excessive rain on the run up to the weekend caused the cancellation of training on Sunday. It will be back next Sunday in CBS at the usual time.
LOTTO - € 17,000 LOTTO next Sunday week.
No lottery winner last Sunday in The Firgrove Hotel, where we concluded the draw. The numbers drawn were 1, 11, 12, and 18. There was no jackpot winner.
Many thanks to all the staff of the hotel for facilitating last week’s draw, and for the sustaining coffee. Lucky dip winners: Gerry Furey - €50, Liam Gamble - €50, Ger O’Keeffe - €25, Gerry Burke - €25
The next draw will be Sunday, 28th October, in Tod’s Bar, which is famous for its great links with the MMS, and other activities.
The new jackpot will be €17,000 for a single winner, the highest it has ever been, or shared if more than one winner.
Entry is only €2 per pick of 4 numbers or 3 tickets for €5.
Remember, the odds of getting 4 numbers in our lottery is very close to the same as getting 4 numbers in the national lottery, but our prize is far bigger, over 250 times bigger in fact.
Annual tickets are available at €50 for 26 draws, with a bonus draw only for annuals. Contact Owen on 087-8112991 for annual tickets, or any other committee member. Rugby Club Lotto is now also available to play on line at www.mitchelstownrugby.com
Birthday gift ideas
Our club shop is now open, with several great gifts in store for all. Please click the link on our website, and proceed to find suitable gifts for all ages, sizes, genders, and budgets. www.mitchelstownrugby.com