MRFC U12's

Our U12s are coached by Sean Healy (086 4040820), Kevin Condon (087 8511257) and Aidan O'Connor (086 8349105).

This blitz took place in Bandon on a glorious morning and Muskerry were drawn in a strong pool with Dunmanway, Bantry, Cobh, Bandon, and Ballincollig. The training session during the week paid off as opponents felt the brunt of some hard tackling and ferocious rucking. Although we lost a ferocious encounter against Bantry the performance was immense as he boys put their bodies on the line and at times the side line was like a casualty ward but there was not one player who didn’t want to get back onto the field at the earliest opportunity. The matches had everything: running tries, crunching tackling, controversial refereeing, and even Tommy Bowe -like try celebrations! The contribution from the entire panel was terrific and it would be unfair to single out any player as this was a day when every panel member was a ‘Man of the Match’ .

Follow this link for photos and select the slideshow option...(thanks to Damian Creedon for the snaps)

A squad depleted by other commitments made the journey up the N20 to Charleville on a fine dry morning. Our hosts had big numbers and big men but the eleven Muskerry players who turned out were determined that they would rise to the challenge.

We started well and second row Brian Murphy was unlucky when he knocked on after good pressure close to the Charleville line. The pressure continued and a good break by first centre Ciaran O’Connor saw him touch down in the corner. Great work by the forward pack was evident with Ian Flannery and Colm O’Sullivan working especially hard in the loose exchanges. We lost Martin O’Reilly mid way through the half when he had a tooth knocked out but Muskerry 12’s are made of tough stuff and after a few mouthfuls of water he was eager to go again! Martin’s replacement Barry Fitzpatrick made a good impression in the forwards and there was some fine work in the backs by captain Odhran Heelan and pacy out half Sean Cahill. As the half progressed our hard work was undone by some poor defence and missed tackles and the home side got in for a few of tries against the run of play. Towards the end of the half a good backline movement ended with Patrick Healy grounding in the corner for his first try in the Muskerry colours.

The second half began as the first had with Muskerry on the attack. Liam Weafer was prominent in the forwards while Craig Bennet on the wing was always looking to unlock the Charleville defence. Odhran Heelan was combining well with his new outhalf Ciaran O’Connor and they soon put Sean Cahill away in the corner and he jinked past the defence for a super score. This was soon followed by a great score from Brian Murphy who was now playing in the unaccustomed position of winger. He took on the home defence and showed great strength to burst over and stretch his arm over the line and make the touch down. The scores were now level and the scene was set for a great finish. Charleville cleared their bench and brought in some big men and the pressure began to tell on our boys. A defensive kick fell straight into the hands of a Charleville player who raced past our tiring defence and gave them the lead. Our lads rallied but the hosts had the fresher legs and got in for a sixth try just before the final whistle. This was an outstanding performance by Muskerry and it would be unfair to single out any one player as each and every one of the team made a fine contribution to a great game of rugby.

Squad: Craig Bennett, Sean Cahill, Barry Fitzpatrick, Ian Flannery, Patrick Healy, Odhran Heelan (Capt.), Brian Murphy, Ciarán O'Connor, Martin O'Reilly, Colm O'Sullivan, Liam Weafer.

On a beautiful morning we made the journey to West Cork to face Clonakilty. Despite a number of absentees we had a panel of fourteen ready for action.

Our first game was ten a side and the instructions to the team were to chase down the opposition when they had possession, and to ensure we made use of our back-line when we had possession. Captained by Ciaran O’Connor we got off to a promising start with converted forwards Cormac Dennehy and Gordon Desmond both looking comfortable in the back-line and running strongly at the Clon boys. Before long the pressure paid off and winger Michael O’Connell showed great pace and nifty footwork before grounding in the corner. Clonakilty rallied and some poor tackling by Muskerry and good finishing on their part resulted in a try for the home team.

Clonakilty may be renown for it’s black puddings but the Muskerry lads looked like they had had their Weetabix for breakfast as they piled on the pressure on Clonakilty. Forwards Ryan Hegarty, Colm O’Sullivan, Luke Horgan, and Martin O’Reilly took no prisoners in their efforts to win possession and soon the tries came. A second for Michael O’Connell was followed by scores from Gordon Desmond(2) and Adam O’Connell. Clonakilty pulled one back but the end result was a good 5-2 win for Muskerry

Our second game was a 12 a side match against the same opponents who had the advantage of a larger panel. The early exchanges were not for the faint hearted and some of our lads fell foul of the referee’s rulings but non the less there was some great play by forwards Barry Fitzpatrick, and Luke Horgan. Brian Murphy, Ian Flannery, and Cormac Dennehy didn’t hold back when it came to clearing out rucks and in the backs Liam Weafer showed well at scrum half despite having taken a heavy knock in the first game while Sean Creedon looked very assured on the wing. The fresher legs on the Clon side gave them some momentum and they were the first to score despite our best efforts in defence.

In the second period the aggressive straight running of Adam O’Connell and the other backs was always a danger and eventually we reaped the reward for good work by the entire team. A forward surge by Muskerry forced Clon to make a defensive kick which was gathered by Ciarán O’Connor who burst through their cover for a great score. This proved to be the last score of what was the second of two great games of rugby and was an outstanding effort by all fourteen of the Muskerry panel.

Panel: Sean Creedon, Cormac Dennehy, Gordon Desmond, Barry Fitzpatrick, Ian Flannery, Ryan Hegarty, Luke Horgan, Brian Murphy, Adam O'Connell, Michael O'Connell, Ciarán O'Connor, Martin O'Reilly, Colm O'Sullivan, Liam Weafer.

The visit of Charleville was our first game since early December and we had an enthusiastic panel of 24 players to select from. Unfortunately the visitors had only 15 players and thus we could not play two separate games. Following a rigorous warm up we selected two teams with each team to play one half against the opposition.

Encounters between these two sides in recent years have been keenly fought affairs and our boys were determined the North Cork men would not get a win on this occasion. Kevin reluctantly agreed to referee but quickly settled into the role and kept a firm grip on proceedings. In the first half we showed some rustiness but still took the game into their half of the pitch. Martin O’Reilly was a prominent figure in the loose play with good support from Barry Fitzpatrick and Brian Murphy. The pressure began to tell on Charleville and Luke Horgan finished off a fine break to record our first try.

Charleville rallied and scored a good try aided by some poor defence on our part. We then applied more pressure with John Sheehan, Ciaran O’Connor and Sean Cahill always looking to prise open the Charleville defence while there was always support from the versatile Alec Roche.

In the second half we replaced our entire team and the strength of our panel was shown as we kept Charleville under constant pressure. A notable feature was the competitive debuts of new signings Sean Creedon and Patrick Healy and both of the new ‘caps’ had fine first outings.

Charleville began to wilt as the Muskerry pack, under captain Gordon Desmond imposed themselves to good effect. A highlight of the half was a fine try by second row Cormac Dennehy who showed great strength to break through the Charleville line and touch down in the corner. In the backs both Joe Harrington and Michael O’Connell were a constant threat while Dave Óg Coleman’s pacy runs caused problems for Charleville’s defence. The visitors were on the back foot for the rest of the half and had begun to tire when Kevin blew the final whistle.

Overall a great turnout, a good win for Muskerry and we look forward to the visit of Fermoy on February 6th. Thanks to our visitors, all of the parents who cheered the lads on, and to Kevin for doing a great job as referee.

Muskerry: First half: Barry Fitzpatrick, Martin O'Reilly, Brian Murphy, Ian Flannery, Luke Horgan, Cian Riordan, Odhran Heelan, Ciaran O'Connor, Sean Cahill, Jack Harrington, John Sheehan, Alec Roche

After a four week break due to the bad weather we were delighted to get the opportunity to visit Carrigaline for a game last Saturday. We had an enthusiastic panel of fourteen players and a good number of equally enthusiastic parents who paid scant attention to the driving wind and rain.

Playing on a tight pitch there was no sign of rustiness as we opened strongly and took the game to our opponents. The forwards, lead by captain Cormac Dennehy worked hard to win possession for the backs who were well marshaled by out half Adam O’Connell. The pressure began to tell on Carrigaline and following some good work by Alec Roche, Brian Murphy and Luke Horgan we breached their line on a number of occasions with notable scores from the hard running Matt Hayes and flying winger Cian Riordan.

For the second period we made some changes and in this period and replacements Gordon Desmond and Ciaran O’Connor all made a made a big contribution and more scoring opportunities were taken. The Carrigaline boys struggled to contain the Muskerry pressure and were on the back foot for most of the period

In the final period Carrigaline rallied and our defence was tested but tireless tackling meant that we kept them scoreless for the match. On a morning when the elements tested all concerned great credit is due to every member of the squad for their efforts on the field.

Squad: Sean Cahill, Cormac Dennehy, Gordon Desmond, Matthew Hayes, Odhran Heelan, Ryan Hegarty, Luke Horgan, Brian Murphy, Adam O'Connell, Ciaran O'Connor, Colm O'Sullivan, Cian Riordan, Alec Roche, Liam Weafer.

It was meant to be ‘Super Saturday’ with the visit of 4 teams for a blitz but it became ‘Soaked Saturday’ as only two teams Dolphin and Dunmanway made the journey and the elements tested all concerned. However a drop of rain and a bit of wind never bothered the Muskerry Under 12’s (or their parents!) and sixteen of our squad were present. With the addition of some of the Under 11’s we made up two teams and each team played Dolphin.

Howard Grice volunteered to referee this game and it was an evenly balanced affair for much of the time. In the forwards Ian Flannery and Martin O’Reilly were prominent while Liam Weafer playing for the first time at scrum-half did a good job of getting possession to his back-line. In the backs Adam O’Connell was always dangerous in possession while Matt Hayes’s strong running nearly took him over the Dolphin line on a few occasions. The lads stuck to the basics by pressuring Dolphin and tackling strongly however neither team could secure a score. As the game progressed it looked like a draw was on the cards. Some dodgy refereeing decisions (!) meant our lads had their backs to the wall as the half progressed but they stuck to their task and were rewarded with the winning try late in the game.

In this game Muskerry were playing into the wind and up the hill in the first half and struggled to contain a big Dolphin side. We lost Ciarán O’Connor through injury early in game and he was replaced by the pacy Dave Og Coleman. We conceded a few soft tries to leave us with a tough task for the second period. Kevin delivered a no nonsense talk at the break and this seemed to bring some improvement. Odhran Heelan worked well in the difficult conditions to try and get his back-line going where the speedy John Sheehan and Jack Harrington were always a threat to Dolphin. Eventually the pressure paid off and hooker Colm O’Sullivan picked up a loose ball near the Dolphin line and crashed past their defence for a fine try. Minutes later a long kick was followed up and Craig Bennet pounced for the score. Despite some mutterings from the Dolphin players, the television match officials (Brian Hayes, Paul O’Connell, and Tom Weafer) confirmed that the ball was grounded. With time running out we could not get any more scores and Dolphin were winners.

Our game against Dunmanway was not played due to the deteriorating weather and an injury to one of Dunmanway players.

Due to I.R.F.U. rule changes last year’s Under 10’s squad are playing at Under 12 this year. This has meant that they have had to get used to new rules, including 5 man scrums and defensive kicking. We have a panel of in excess of 20 available for selection including a number of new recruits.

Attendance at training has been good and the squad have been enthusiastically embracing the new features of their game under the careful coaching of Kevin Condon and the results of the hard work on the training pitch have been evident in their two matches to date.

For our first outing on October 10th against Old Christians we had a panel of 16 which meant we constantly rotated our bench and this strength in depth proved too much for Christians and we ran out comfortable winners scoring some fine tries. In our second engagement away to Ballincollig we fielded two teams and both of the Muskerry combinations proved too strong for our near neighbours and the games proved ideal opportunities for us to show our attacking capabilities.

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