On a bright sunny day in Athy RFC last Sunday we had a day of mixed fortunes for our Firsts and Seconds. The Firsts were competing against our local rivals Naas in the final of the Hosie Cup. In what was a very open games with try’s aplenty we missed out by one point, losing 22-23. The team, particularly the pack played very well and excellent scrummaging and line out play gave lots of opportunities for scores . Both sets of backs ran the ball on every opportunity giving great entertainment to the large numbers of supporters for both teams. The pitch was very good considering the amount of rain over the past few weeks and Athy RFC must be congratulated on this. The good performance augers well for our vital home League game next Saturday against Suttonians as well as future league game plus the upcoming Provincial Towns Cup game away to Newbridge.
The Seconds played Portlaoise in the final of the Lalor Cup. Excellent team work with some very astute positional kicking provided the platform for an excellent win by 21-12. The captain on the day, Stevie Cunningham led his team with excellent place kicking and belied his “pensioner” bus pass. Long may he continue to lead by example. The game also saw the return to the field on the official Captain, Kev Cullen. A welcome sight to have him back for the remainder of the league campaign. Clon led well at half time and it was only in the last 10/12 minutes that Portlaoise were let back into the game when our concentration weakened and two soft scores were conceded. However the team rallied and in the end came out very deserving winners.
Well done to the players and the coaching staff on these two good performances. Also many thanks to the many supporters who attended and gave great cheer to both our teams.
