2010 Newstalk Provincial Towns Cup

[hands away]

Tuesday 16th March 2010
Spencer Cup (J1) - Playoffs

Coolmine 16 17 Monkstown Ashbrook Semi Final

on the leinster site, no idea what sort of a team either had out or if coolmine have actually stopped celebrating yet

[David Reid]

They beat them tuesday night and coolmine had a full team out and monkstown were light on players
Coolmine got minced in the scrums and the contact and aginst a good defence were short on ideas

[The Big Fish]

Enniscorthy will beat Boyne they are by a distance the best team in 1B. They were very slow to get going in the league but when they did they put both teams above them to the sword.
Was at the Coolmine Monkstown game. Donal Crotty the man who makes Coolmine tick wasn't playing. I don't know what game you were watching it took Coolmine an hour to get up to speed with the physicality but when they did there was only one team in it. Monkstown were at sea when Coolmine put width on the ball.

[WHOCARES]

Newbridge were knocking on the door of promotion this year...last year correct me if im wrong but did they win a game in div 1??? boyne also hammered enniscorthy in the league....boyne finished well clear in second place this year behind an exceptional seapoint team...any team that goes unbeaten in that league deserves what seapoint have....there is a massive gulf between div 1a and 1b....tullows cup pedigree and home advantage kept it tight last weekend .....expect boyne to put in a performance this weekend and see of enniscorthy comfortably....if im wrong i will take it on the chin but i think some people may be looking at this fixture through enniscorthy tinted glasses

[groundhog]

Portlaoise 10 11 Tullamore
New Ross 12 27 Dundalk
Boyne 18 13 Enniscorthy
Wicklow 5 27 Cill Dara

Boyne scrape through with a late winner and Tullamore held their nerve in a dog fight.

Semi-final draw

Tullamore v Dundalk
Cill Dara v Boyne

Cill Dara v Dundalk final.

[ufo]

scorthy unlucky not to beat Boyne. 13-11 up in the 79th minute. Fair play to Boyne, scored a good try when they had to. No big gulf in standards between the leagues judging by this game....

[d angry kid]

Boyne at home to Enniscorthy
Dundalk away to New Ross
Portlaoise at home to Tullamore.

No real shocks there, fancy Monkstown to win the play-off now.

Quarter finals will be interesting

Boyne, New Ross, Portlaoise and Cill Dara to come through...

Not sure if i agree, boyne, while a division higher in the LL i think will struggle to handle a very inform enniscorthy side!!!

Would ya stop!
Boyne an LL Div 1 team will beat an inferior Enniscorthy easily enough.
Dundalk who are in serious form since Christmas will beat an average New Ross who again are in a lower div.
Tullamore should scrape by a typically dogged Portlaoise. This one will be decided by the morale of the demoted 'laoise men and whether or not they can still get up 4 the cup.
And Cill Dara should beat Wicklow depending on whether or not they decide to bring their A-game which at times this they have not!

The Gospel according to LL divisional rugby!
Role on the semi-finals. Two crackers with very evenly matched teams- wouldn't dare call either game!

[silly punt]

scorthy unlucky not to beat Boyne. 13-11 up in the 79th minute. Fair play to Boyne, scored a good try when they had to. No big gulf in standards between the leagues judging by this game....

No team from 1B beat any team from 1A in the whole competition, Boyne have been run close twice but have come out on top because they play a higher standard of rugby every week, IMO. Newbridge were well beaten by Portlaoise at home and New Ross were well beaten at home by Dundalk, both sides were challenging for League honours (this is not a swipe, just in case my friends from across the Curragh get annoyed).

It is folly to say there is no gulf in class when the 4 teams left in the competition were the first 4 teams in the betting at the start & they all play in 1A.

[David Reid]

Enniscorthy will beat Boyne they are by a distance the best team in 1B. They were very slow to get going in the league but when they did they put both teams above them to the sword.
Was at the Coolmine Monkstown game. Donal Crotty the man who makes Coolmine tick wasn't playing. I don't know what game you were watching it took Coolmine an hour to get up to speed with the physicality but when they did there was only one team in it. Monkstown were at sea when Coolmine put width on the ball.

Look man its called being gracious in defeat Coolmine lost because as you put it they couldnt keep up with monkstown for 60 minutes of a 80 minutes game. Plus you town were missing there half backs, hooker etc so you can put it dont to one player.

[silly punt]

Venues have been selected for the semis on Easter Sunday 4/04/10:

Tullamore/Dundalk 3pm in Mullingar RFC
Cill Dara/Boyne 3pm in Edenderry RFC

[David Reid]

those are two good semis it is very tough to call tullamore are the underpreforming team of the year so are they finally going to shine but dundalk finished the season very strong aswell and play good rugby

i think ill have to give it to boyne in the second one cill dara are good and solid but i think boyne have to be fancied on this one

boyne and dundalk in the final

[Armchair]

I don't think Boyne would be to happy with E'derry as the venue, 15 - 20 mins from Cill Dara and a long haul for Boyne. I would have thought Coolmine or some other Dublin club Monkstown, Garda, etc would have been a fairer venue. but hopefully ED get a good gate and bar on the the day to boost the coffers likewise Mullingar.

[silly punt]

I don't think Boyne would be to happy with E'derry as the venue, 15 - 20 mins from Cill Dara and a long haul for Boyne. I would have thought Coolmine or some other Dublin club Monkstown, Garda, etc would have been a fairer venue. but hopefully ED get a good gate and bar on the the day to boost the coffers likewise Mullingar.

Fair point about the the venue, but traditionally the venues are provincial and would rule out the Dublin clubs as they dont compete in the Towns Cup. Also a club has to apply to host either a semi or final, perhaps they are the only clubs who applied.

[silly punt]

Latest betting from PaddyPower

Boyne evens

Dundalk 3/1

Tullamore 4/1

Cill Dara 4/1

[Armchair]

Latest betting from PaddyPower

Boyne evens

Dundalk 3/1

Tullamore 4/1

Cill Dara 4/1

Paddy Power in Kildare will be busy!

[jimmy the bone]

For what its worth I think it will be a Cill Dara Dundalk final. Boyne are lucky to be in the final a last gasp try against Scorthy got them over the line (I was surprised they won that match if I'm to be honest). Cill Dara will mangle them up front particularily if the weather stays the same. Apart from an ageing Tongan Cill Dara offer little threat behind the scrum but their forward pack as a unit are probably the best in the Province at J1 level.

Tullamore have been seriously disrupted by injury over the past few week struggled against a poor Portlaoise. Dundalk are one of the few teams who might come close to Cill Dara in the forward department. I'm going to go for a Dundalk win here.

Which will probably make for a painful final with Dara to win 1-0 (Probably the last sting of a dying wasp for the Cill Dara men as the majority of the team make the short trip around the corner to Beechpark Nursing home )

Best of luck Sunday to all teams..

[silly punt]

Which will probably make for a painful final with Dara to win 1-0 (Probably the last sting of a dying wasp for the Cill Dara men as the majority of the team make the short trip around the corner to Beechpark Nursing home )

Best of luck Sunday to all teams..

All very original Jimmy!

[jimmy the bone]

Oooooooooh Touchy Touchy

[8M LEINSTAW]

Jaysus Jimmy you put the hex on everyone. Have to admit I thought this was CD's year. Was the game as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests?

[WHOCARES]

Jimmy the bone great calls on both semi finals.....boyne were very lucky scored 5 lucky tries sure they only finished clear second in the league 4 places ahead of cill dara...now i dont know what rugby u watch every weekend but if u had been watching boyne u would know that performance has been coming a long time...they totally destroyed a one dimensional cill dara team....now make ur prediction for the final.......