Head Coach Phil DeBarra left “speechlessly proud”
The Athy RFC squad that won the 2026 Bank of Ireland Leinster Towns Cup, beating Tullow on Sunday in Edenderry. Photo: Matt Browne/Sportsfile.
Athy Head Coal Phil DeBarra told the Kildare Nationalist that he was “speechlessly proud” following his side’s record-setting victory in Sunday’s Bank of Ireland Leinster Towns Cup final.
“I am so proud of the lads; they're such a good bunch of boys,” he said.
“We've been working all year - ourselves and Tullow weren't too dissimilar - it's just been a bit of a grind, but basically our mantra was: ‘we'll work now, we'll rest at the end.’ We're finally at the end now, so, yeah, very proud.”
Athy delivered an unbelievable performance in the first half to hold a 27-0 lead at half-time, but the Head Coach says it was no more than he expected.
“In fairness to Tullow, they're a class outfit, and we've looked at them and how they conduct themselves around cup competitions, and how they understand their own DNA, and we've tried to understand our own DNA.
“But I did feel like there was a version of today’s game where we were going to score probably over 40 points. It's historically a high-scoring game between the two teams, so there was no reason not to believe that it wouldn’t be again.
“27-0, yeah, I'll give you that, that was dreamy stuff, but we just put together the best 40 minutes we've had. It was very good.”
DeBarra has navigated Athy through an incredibly long, extended season, that saw the club make history when they reached the All-Ireland Junior Cup semi-finals in their very first year in that competition.
“It's just been a brilliant season for everyone,” he said.
“The All-Ireland was a bit of a kick in the guts because we played really well. We didn't have many bad performances but didn't get all the results we wanted. So, the belief was tested, and we just said, we'll just keep working, it'll be worth it. And I think I can say now that it was worth it.”
It has also been a long season in the Leinster League, where Athy and Tullow have been in a battle to stave off relegation from Division 1A of the Leinster League since very early on in the campaign.
But the unflappable DeBarra even managed to see the silver lining on that particular rain cloud, laughing off the top-flight struggles by saying the relegation battle “keeps you sharp.”
Athy have built serious depth in their squad, with at least 25 players who can start the biggest of games and comfortably hold their own.
“Craig (Miller) said last year, early enough in the season, he said, this group has no ceiling. So, we live by that. I don't know what's in the future - I'm not going to think about it tonight, but we're not going backwards anyway,” DeBarra concluded.
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.
