The Towns Cup final has been set with two local teams facing off in the decider.
Kilkenny traveled to Portlaoise to claim a 20-point to 8 victory over Cil Dara while Tullow Rugby club came away at 27 to 25 points winners over Carlow.
🏆 | @KilkennyRFC and @TullowRFC will meet in this year's @bankofireland Provincial Towns Cup Final, after winning their semi-finals on Sunday.
— Leinster Domestic (@LeinsterBranch) April 10, 2023
See the match reports here 👉 https://t.co/FKM0DBxLpu#FromTheGroundUp pic.twitter.com/HNatELdWNM
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Tullow has been riding a crest of a wave this season after capturing the Division 1B title earlier this year and earning promotion in the process. Carlow thoughnw ere not willing to allow the 1017 Towns Cup champions to have it easy though, staging a ferocious comeback. At one stage Carlow trailed their opponents by 14 points in Enniscorthy, however, fought back valiantly with a Caomhan Brennan try in the closing minutes putting the game into doubt. Fortunately for the Tullow fans, the resulting conversion hit the outside of the post with the end result of the nail-biting affair reading 27-25.
For Kilkenny, the game was certainly in the melting pot at times, but the defending Towns Cup champions eventually stormed ahead. There was no score for the opening 20 minutes, with Cil Dara missing two penalties, however, first blood went to The Cats with Dave O’Connor charging over for the first try. 15 minutes later and Podge Mahon surged over to really set Kilkenny on their way in the first half with the score reading 12-3. Scrum-half Dave Vaughan managed to put the game in touching distance, before Kilkenny’s Liam Caddy basically put the game out of sight by going over. The game finished 20 – 08, with Kilkenny having a serious chance to defend their Towns Cup crown, just like they did so in 2001 and 2002.
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Tullow will now meet the defending champions Kilkenny in two weeks with that game being broadcast in full live from Athy on KCLR Scoreline.
Fan of local rugby, be sure to check out our local rugby podcast “The Knock On” below:
