Life in Leinster, All-Ireland semis and first Towns Cup in over 40 years

2025 was arguably the greatest 12 months in the 146-year history of Athy Rugby Club. From climbing up the ranks in their first year in Division 1A of the Leinster League, to recapturing the Towns Cup for the first time in over four decades, to reaching the All-Ireland semi-finals, Athy have forever made 2025 an iconic year in the annals of the club.

Life had proved difficult in the top tier of Leinster rugby, but Athy turned a corner at the start of 2025 and picked up enough wins to see them finish fifth place overall with close to a 50/50 record.

Speaking to the Kildare Nationalist, club captain Craig Miller reflected on the challenges his side faced. “We took a while to find our feet really and get up to that level that was needed,” he said.

“To fight in Division 1A, it was a big step up in physicality and also the speed that the game is played at. But we quickly learned and found our feet and then started to find a bit of form midway through the season against Wicklow in a home match and it kind of just went from there really.” The pinnacle of Athy’s season was undoubtedly their success in the Bank of Ireland Provincial Towns Cup, bridging a 41-year gap since the last time the famous old trophy was won by the Kildare club.

A 34-17 win over New Ross at The Showgrounds was followed by a 24-11 win away to Dundalk in the quarter-finals. That set up a semi-final clash with Tullow – a club on the hunt for their third consecutive Towns Cup – where Athy produced a magnificent performance to win 39-33 and book their place in the final.

Athy last reached the final in 1991 and last lifted the trophy in 1984 with a famous triumph over Portlaoise.

“After beating Tullow in the semi-final, we really did feel pressured into winning the final,” Miller said. “We'd known that Tullow were strong favourites after winning the two previous years and we just were worried to make sure that that wasn't our final.” The captain says there was added pressure on Athy as they had finished higher in the league than their opponents in the final, 12-time winners Carlow.

This game was the fifth time the two sides have met in the final and it’s hard to imagine any of the previous meetings could match the atmosphere, colour and drama on display in Forenaughts.

Carlow got out in front early with a converted try, but Athy responded by running in three unanswered tries through David Downey, Jack Henry and Cathal Fennessy to lead 15-7 at half time.

Another converted try and penalty sent Carlow 17-15 in front, but a penalty from Darragh Farrell from 35 yards out proved to be the winning of the game as Athy lifted the prestigious trophy for a sixth time on a winning scoreline of 18-17.

A summer of celebrations was followed by a second season in the Leinster League Division 1A, with Athy hopeful of good start – and while the performances were there, the results were not.

The season began with three defeats in a row before Athy picked up their first win, again an important and timely victory over Wicklow.

The captain says he believes much of the blame falls at his feet. “I probably take a lot of responsibility myself for the losses at the start of the league,” Miller said.

“When I was place-kicking, I really wasn’t on the mark; the percentages were low. That could have turned a few of those games had I made them kicks and if we'd have won one or two of them, God knows where we'd be now - we'd probably be in the top four.

“The team didn't perform too badly, and we were there and thereabouts in a few games. But we also had a lot of new players, new faces in. So, it was just about embedding them into the game plan and just to get used to playing with each other as well.

“My brother (Josh Miller) finally came home from Australia, so I was able to hand the kicking duties over to him, let him take over – and that probably did help take the pressure off me a bit. I was probably able to maybe take 30 seconds there when there was a kick happening and chat to the lads. Just keep them on form and make sure that they're ready for the next job. And maybe that has been a help - along with my brother getting a few kicks.” Athy’s fifth place finish the previous season coupled with Division 1A winners Bective Rangers securing promotion to the AIL meant the Kildare club would have the honour of competing in the Energia All-Ireland Junior Cup as Leinster’s fourth representative.

Athy ran in seven tries in the first round to beat Tuam 47-14 in Galway and set up a quarter-final with Suttonians. The Dublin side beat Athy in the league one week before their All-Ireland and went into the game as strong favourites.

Suttonians led 10-3 at half time, but Athy produced their best 40 minutes of the season in a simply phenomenal display, scoring 38 unanswered points thanks to five converted tries and a penalty for good measure to win the 41-10.

That meant that a fairytale game beckoned as Athy had made it to the final four teams in country. The journey ended in mid-December in St Michael’s College, Dublin, however, as hosts Seapoint got into a 17-0 lead at the break and left Athy with simply too much ground to make up. There was great resilience shown by Miller and his team, but it wasn’t to be.