Kilkenny under-15s fall to narrow defeat against New Ross

Having recovered from a bad start where the Kilkenny boys went 13 points to nil down, the Noresiders looked to have the Under 15 Cup semi-final won with two minutes to go when leading by four points and with New Ross pinned in their own 22 but their opponents had other ideas.

Ill-discipline let Kilkenny down though as with New Ross pinned in their 22 and the game ebbing away a Kilkenny offside gave them an easy exit .

Two quick penalty concessions , compounded by a high tackle which left Kilkenny with 14 players for the second time in the game allowed New Ross one last penalty chance.

A tap and run saw them score under the posts and get an unlikely win given the way the Kilkenny side almost over ran them for periods in the previous 30 minutes.

Short of six of the players who featured in the League win the previous week due to holidays and injury , Kilkenny were all at sea early on but they soon started to play.

Superb back line handling and forward play meant that New Ross could never match the Kilkenny effort which saw Killian McElwee drive over after 25 minutes and Kilkenny were back in the game as a result.

The Kilkenny side totally dominated the second half and didn’t concede another penalty until late in the game.

In fairness to New Ross, their scramble defence was excellent as they managed to hold Kilkenny at bay on several occasions .

After 16 minutes a great Rhatigan pass allowed Dylan Brennan and Killian Dunphy break the cover in the corner for Brennan to dot down and a Lar Phelan break with six minutes left saw him score the lead try which Rhatigan converted from wide on the right to put Kilkenny four in front .

They had New Ross under enormous pressure as driving runs by Rory Dunne , Michael Lawlor and Oisin Barry had Kilkenny on the Ross line before the early indiscipline returned to a tiring team who didn’t have the firepower on the bench this week to see out the win.

On the plus side all the Kilkenny players played their part in a high tempo game showing the depth of their panel with regulars Michael Lawlor and Cathal Cullen starting at loose head and hooker for the first time and Hugh Healy at 9 doing well as he settled into the game.

Kilkenny -

Backs: Killian Dunphy (St Kieran’s College), Daithí MaGee (CBS Kilkenny ), Dylan Brennan (Castlecomer CS), Larry Phelan Jack Rhatigan Hugh Healy (all St Kieran’s College), Louis Evans (CBS Kilkenny}.

Forwards- Cathal Cullen (Colaiste Abhainn Rí, Callan), Rory Dunne, Michael Lawlor (Castlecomer Com SC) Alex Dooley, Oisin Barry, Killian McElwee (all St Kieran’s College) Darragh Lynch, Donnchadh Convery (both CBS Kilkenny).

Reserves: Zac Prizeman (CBS Kilkenny), Daniel Hayes (St Kieran’s College) and Diarmuid Roche (Grennan College)