Fixtures this coming weekend:
Friday night under lights is becoming a regular feature at Bruff RFC. A great way to kick off the weekend which sees us returning to the final four games of the AIL as well
Fri: 5th
GL Playoff: Bruff J2 V Garryowen, 7:30pm
Sat 6th March
U21 SWC NUIG V Bruff, 2:30pm
Sun 7th March:
AIL, Round 12: Old Wesley V Bruff, 2:30pm.
Youth Fixtures:
U14 F Bruff V Clanwilliam, 11:30am
U15LF Young Munster V Bruff, 12:15pm Derryknockane.
U17 F Old Crescent V Bruff, 11:30am.
Click on the image for the Slideshow
Good day out in Kilballyowen even if we managed to get Sunshine, rain, hail, sleat and snow, all within the duration of a single AIL game.
The pre-match was a bit different with the opportunity being taken to honour the Culligan Cup winning team of 1979, who brought the first Competitive cup to Bruff ten years after the founding of the club. This was the first of the events planned for the 40th year celebration of the founding of the club, keep an eye out for more of these as the year progresses.
Bruff came into this game with a game in hand and looking to keep in the hunt for playoff position. Corinthians looked reasonably safe but a few of their last results had gone against them.
Job well done is about the easiest way to describe the day. Despite the final pass not going to hand and allowing Corinthians to keep in touch at the break Bruff went in courtesy of a Stephen Foster Try duly converted by Philip Moloney who added another three pointer to give Bruff a ten point lead at half time. You felt somehow that they hadn’t got the value of all the possession that they had during the half the strong home crows seemed to be getting edgy.
The second half began as the first finished with Bruff making most of the attacking and having 80% of the possession to my calculations. The only reward that Bruff had for all of their possession was a three pointer from Captain Brian Cahill who had taken over kicking duties five minutes into the half.
Despite the occasional breakout from the young Corinthian side, Bruff never looked like losing this game but it wasn’t made safe until hooker Cathal O’ Regan touched down for try number two to give Bruff a clear twenty point lead with ten minutes left on the clock. At this stage the Galway side looked dead on their feet and Bruff went on a rampage, the last action of the game resulting in a John Shine try converted by Cahill which game some valuable score difference. With the league as tight as it is this may become important in the final roundup.
Scorers: Stephen foster (1T), Philip Moloney (1P, 1C), Cathal O’ Regan (1T), Brian Cahill (1P, 2C), John S. Shine (1T)
Team lined out as follows:
| 1. | Stephen Foster |
| 2. | Cathal O’ Regan |
| 3. | Gearóid Ryan |
| 4. | Peter Malone |
| 5. | Dermot Murnane |
| 6. | David Gardiner |
| 7. | John Shine |
| 8. | Mike Carroll |
| 9. | Tony Cahill |
| 10. | Brian Cahill (Capt) |
| 11. | Andrew Cashman |
| 12. | John Carroll |
| 13. | John Malone |
| 14. | Pat Thompson |
| 15 | Philip Moloney |
| 16. | Rory O’ Connor (H) |
| 17. | Keith Laffan (P) |
| 18. | Alan Bourke |
| 19. | Eoghan Maher |
| 20. | Nigel Riordan |
Mike O’ Connor is running a supporters bus for this away game on Sunday 7th of March.
If you wish to travel on this bus then please contact Mike on 061-382388 or 087-6486603 as soon as you can.
Click on the Scoreboard for the full Gallery, keep an eye out for a certain prop doing a chip and chase...
The Division Two table is a little clearer in our favour following this bonus point win over Terenure in Lakelands today.
Bruff went into this game needing a full five points and some luck in the game between Wesley and Co. at Donnybrook to go second in the table. Tries By John Shine and John Carroll gave Bruff a ten point lead after the same amount of time and it was reminiscent of last weeks game except that this time around the lads were far more clinical in their demolition of a good Terenure side. Against the wind in the first half, some fantastic support play and combinations between the pack and the back line meant that at half time they went in with an 18 point to three lead after another John Carroll touchdown and a penalty from the boot of Philip Moloney.
A strong fight back by Terenure in the second half wasn’t to be and even though they managed to put away their only try of game after Bruff scored first blood courtesy of a fantastic John Shine Try, a Bruff five meter Scrum looked to have been pushed over but even though John Shine touched down again over the line the Try wasn’t given. Two minutes later the wrong was righted however again by John Shine who crossed for his third touchdown of the day and the final whistle combined with Bectives 7 point win over Wesley means that this puts us in second place on the league table by the slenderest of margins.
Looks like our destiny is back in our own hands again after the weekend with none of the games in hand remaining having any possible effect on the table standings.
Five games to go and we’re in second place by a point, who’d a thunk it? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Interesting though that the last game of the season away to Clonakilty is clashing with the 1/4 final game between Munster and Northampton, we’ll hafta do summat about that.
Before you clean your glasses or wipe your screen , this is what we could actually see from the sidelines today.
Foggy day at Kilballyowen, Click for the slideshow
I had to do some serious processing to get some shots for the slideshow this week, so have a look, I left the last one unedited just to show you what it actually looked like before messing about with the shots.
Round 9 of the AIL Division 2 was a little up in the air until about half an hour before kickoff with the J2 Gleeson League game cancelled due ot the thick fog that had descended on Limerick city and county during Friday night.
Bruff went ahead with Cathal O’ Regan getting first blood on the day touching down from a maul from about five meters after a mere four minutes. Philip Moloney added the extras and six minutes later Wing forward John Shine scooped up a loose ball from his toenails popping up to Scrumhalf Tony Cahill who put Shine’s back row companion David Gardiner over left of the posts to give Bruff a twelve point lead. Bruff were very dominant at this stage of the game and you felt that the bonus point was almost going to be a formality, it wasn’t to be though. Stones replied with a three pointer courtesy of outhalf Barry Lynn and before the break Philip moloney put over two further penalties to go in at the half time break 18 points to three ahead.
Philip Moloney kick off for the second half as the fog appeared to get even thicker and Bruff still dominated the early forward exchanges but could not seem to convert good posession into scores ont he board. AS the half progressed Greystones got stronger and their out-half Lynn came more into the frame but again they were living mostly off Bruff mistakes and the referees whistle giving them relief inside their twenty two time and time again. As the game came to a close Stones came closest to scoring he only try of the half with a fantastic break from inside their twenty two, Winger John Breslin romping home but Andrew Cashman hunted him down from the middle of the field and brought him to the ground ten meters short of the line to spare the Bruff XV’s Blushes.
There’ll be a lot of Woulda, coulda, shoulda’s after this game from both sides.
Bruff 18 Greystones 3.
Table wise it won’t have any effect, things don’t change in the top four until after the result between Bective and Thomond Tomorrow.