League safety secured, now Athy RFC look for cup glory
Athy's Culann Carbery Photo: Aisling Hyland
Athy end league season on a high note Athy Director of Rugby, Ollie Henry was very pleased with the Athy Senior rugby side’s end to their season, following their win over Ashbourne last weekend.
Athy finished their Leinster Division 1A campaign in fifth place, after they were only promoted to the top tier this season, something Henry was very impressed by.
“We started the season slowly. We lost the opening three games, but we learned from them and kicked on. We were probably quite naive the first day out, but we've learned. We’ve a very young team. A lot of our guys are 18, 19 or 20. We’ve had three promotions in the last four years. We finished fifth this season, which we are happy with. We were one place off qualifying for the All-Ireland Junior Cup but look we’re proud of the lads this season. Our first aim was to stay in the division and then kick on if we could.”
Henry was pleased with his side’s result last weekend, but he did believe there were still improvements to be made.
“Our performance was very patchy for minutes, and then we came into our own. Asbourne have had a very difficult season, so we had to avoid being complacent. We knew if we avoided being complacent, we had a good chance of winning the game,” said Henry.
Although last weekend brought curtain down on their league campaign, Athy’s season is not over yet as they will compete in the second round of the Towns Cup on Sunday at home to New Ross.
“We just missed out on the All-Ireland Junior Cup, but we still have the Town’s Cup. We’re the second highest placed team in that competition so we will be going to win that competition.”
Ahead of next season, Henry is hopeful the side could kick on.
“The side is very young. Most of our guys are only 18, 19 or 20. They will all be a year older and that bit more experienced. This year we really noticed the step up in quality, playing in Division 1 A. The pace of the game is that bit faster than 1B. We see a the way a lot of the Dublin teams play, there’s a lot of pace. In 1B you have the same physicality but the pace of the game in Division 1A is that bit quicker. We will be looking to kick on next season for sure”
