"We just never seemed to get up to the pitch of the game at any stage in the first half"
The Bank of Ireland Provincial Towns Cup Trophy before the Final in Edenderry. Photo: Matt Browne/Sportsfile.
Tullow Head Coach Maurice Logue cut a disappointed figure on the field in Edenderry following his side’s defeat in the Towns Cup Final. The three-time winners went on a fabulous run in this year’s competition, but that came to a thunderous halt when they ran into defending champions Athy in Sunday’s final.
“They were very clinical in the first half, they were very good; and on the day, they well deserved it. They were much better than us. We just never seemed to get up to the pitch of the game at any stage in the first half. It gave us a huge mountain to climb,” Logue told The Nationalist.
Athy’s fast start saw them take an early lead that they never relinquished and left the field at half time with the trophy all but in the bag.
“27-0 at half time, guys could have just packed up their bags. But they didn't; they fought back and we scored some nice tries, showed what we could do. But we didn't do it early enough.”
There was a chance for Tullow to knock over a penalty in the 15th minute that would have cut the deficit to seven, but they refused the points, opting instead to drive towards the line, only to lose the ball and find themselves back under their own posts moments later.
“Hindsight is a brilliant thing afterwards, but I think you’ve just got to back the lads,” Logue said. “We were pretty good in those situations all throughout the year, but it was symptomatic of what was going wrong for us today, where we were just making really poor errors that are not really associated with us. But maybe that's just pressure as well and the occasion maybe getting the better of some of the lads.”
Tullow found themselves on the wrong end of a few scrum penalties, which cost them both territory and possession – a surprise in many ways given how impressive their scrum has been all season. “Athy have a very good scrum as well, and we knew that,” Logue explained. “We knew if we got parity in the scrum we would have been delighted. But obviously, we got turned over in a couple of scrums there in the first half, which gave them penalties and took away possession for us.”
Tullow were rejuvenated after the break and went on to win the second half 26-14. It was not enough to claw their way back, however, with Logue saying: “There was no hairdryer treatment or anything. From an Athy point of view, they had 27-0 up; I'm sure they felt they had the game won and players can switch off a little bit.
“We showed really good character and scored some nice tries in the second half, just left it too late. That's the resounding thing that's happened today and we're on the losing end of a Towns Cup, which is never nice. But, look, there's always going to be a winner and there's always going to be a loser and that's unfortunately us.”
Athy captain Craig Miller has been the outstanding player across this year's Towns Cup and capped it off with a brilliant individual performance in the decider.
He dictated the pace of the game in the first half, and carried huge pressure on his shoulders after brother, Josh, went off injured just three minutes into the second half.
There is no better fly half in junior rugby to cover the back field than Craig Miller, who always tries to turn defensive positions into platforms for Athy to attack from deep.
There were nine tries scored in Edenderry, but the first was by far the most memorable.
Athy were on the front foot early on, going through the phases before an exquisite cross-field kick from Craig Miller landed perfectly in the hands of winger Ciaran Fennessy, who dotted down out wide in just the fourth minute.
The try left an extremely difficult conversion attempt for Athy kicker Josh Miller, but he landed his short with aplomb, settling his nerves for the work that was yet to come off the tee.
Tullow were 10-0 up after quarter of an hour and needed a response before the final got away from them.
They won a penalty in Athy's 22 but declined a kick at goal and the easy three points, opting instead to tap the penalty and make a charge for the line. But the three-time winners knocked the ball on with the try-line at their mercy and the chance was gone. Athy kicked a penalty of their own moments later for a six-point turnaround, leading 13-0 instead of 10-3.
A powerful scrum has been a cornerstone of Tullow's season, but Athy - led by tighthead Conan Dunne - pulverised the Tullow scrum as the set-piece, like the game as a whole, proved to be a one-sided affair.
