There was no doubt that the 2023 Towns Cup Final in Athy was going to be epic.
Kilkenny started off proceedings and seemed to be the more aggressive side in the opening exchanges. However, the scrums seem to let the defending champions down, while Tullow’s line-outs failed them in the first five minutes. After a scrappy first ten minutes, Kilkenny’s Jake McDonald kicked for a lineout as opposed to taking a possible three points from a kicking position. Ben Devlin opted to go for the tail of the line-out, which proved to be costly, as Kilkenny came away empty-handed from the phase of play.
Then after twenty minutes, and some pick-and-go’s, Tullow took the lead. Gar Fitzgerald saw his opportunity and burst over the line for the first score of the game. Adam Johnson then took full advantage of standing right in front of the posts to put Tullow seven in front. Not to be outdone Kilkenny opted to now take their chance to put points on the board from a penalty. It was a monster kick from Hugh Corkery that went over the posts, and now it truly was game on. It was a case of anything you can do, well we can do also, Adam Johnson, only up from the under-18’s last year got Tullow’s first three-point score converting a penalty. After 26 minutes it was 10-3, before Corkery found himself in front of the sticks once again 10 yards out. There was no doubt in the crowd that this was going over, with some beautiful backspin on the ball.
Kilkenny went down to 14 men as winger Lyndon Brannigan received a yellow card and was sent to the bin. Tullow punished them for the indiscretion however with Adam Johnson charging over, beating the Podge Mahon en route, after receiving a bit of luck from the line-out. Johnson compounded the misery though for Kilkenny by taking his conversion and building a mountain for Kilkenny to climb with the score reading 17-6.
Half time: Tullow 17 Kilkenny 6
Tullow started the first half rapidly, however, started that descended into a bit of scrappiness, giving away some sloppy fouls. Kilkenny had a chance to kick over another three, but like towards the end of the first half, they opted to go for the line. Evidently being told they need to go for a try as opposed to taking their penalties, however, a simple error had the ball back in the possession of Tullow who found touch just inside Kilkenny’s 22.
Then Gar Fitzgerald lit the fire the second half needed, coming out of nowhere to go over for his second try of the game. Adam Johnson, who was having a blinder with his boot, hit the next two as the scoreboard turned over to 24 points. Not to be outdone, Kilkenny proved the tie was not over yet with Podge Mahon going over the line for the first try of the day. Hugh Corkery added the two, and it was game on with twenty minutes remaining. Kilkenny kept grinding into the game with Kilkenny hitting for touch, desperate for another try. Can their line-out perform which was just inside Tullow’s 22? However, the ball found its way to Tullow’s Jamie Cooper who alleviated the pressure with a wonderful kick up the field.
Joe Manuel, the Kilkenny stalwart put the game into the melting pot after 33 minutes, getting Kilkenny’s second try of the game. There was no doubt Hugh Corkery would convert, and now there was definitely a seed of doubt in the minds of Tullow’s fans with just 4 points separating. The clock kept ticking down with one minute left Kilkenny found themselves near Tullow ten metre line, with panic stations hitting Tullow fans. It was nail-biting as the ball ultimately resulted in a goal-line drop-out, Kilkenny needed to attack. They certainly did, mauling, rolling, and rucking, bringing the ball blindside with Jack Colback putting in a fantastic captain tackles seven metres from the line. The ball found its way out, and Kilkenny had one more chance to snatch the game in the dying embers.
It was a frantic final few minutes as Kilkenny kicked for the corner, they needed a try. Tullow where defending with their lives, bringing the game to an epic crescendo. Kilkenny was marching forward, and it looked like they were about to successfully go over before a knock-on broke down the play, and with that Tullow were once again Towns Cup Champions.
Full time: Tullow 24 Kilkenny 20
