Portlaoise Rugby Club are going through something of a renaissance at the moment.
Paul Brady’s men endured a miserable start to the 2017-2018 but have seen their fortunes turn around.
They lost their first six games before defeating Suttonians at the end of November.
Portlaoise lost their next three games but then beat Clondalkin at the start of January to move off the foot of Division 1B in the Leinster League.
Their attentions then turned to the Towns Cup where they had a fine win over Navan in Round 1 two weeks ago.
This Sunday, Portlaoise are out in Round 2 against the team who knocked them out last year – Skerries.
And ahead of the game in Togher, we caught up with one of their stalwarts – Enda Fingleton.
What’s your earliest rugby memory?
My earliest rugby memory would be as a child. All farming would stop on a Saturday afternoon and we would go in to watch the 5 Nations.
It was rough stuff back then! Sport Stadium would show a good bit of AIL too and you would see Donal (Plugs) and Brian Rigney playing.
Tell us a bit about the club?
Portlaoise RFC was 50 years old last year so compared to some of the clubs we play against, we’re only chaps.
It’s a good club in so far as we have teams from all ages. U-6 up to senior. Go out any Saturday and the place is packed for training or games.
There are some great team mentors involved – people who never played and now they are hooked. And on the girls side it starts at U-13 I think.
People like the Byrnes, Paddy Sherlock and John Lynch are doing great work. It is a growing sport for girls and hopefully they can hold on to them to senior level.
What are the facilities like?
We are based out in Togher and our location is brilliant, just two weeks ago we hosted the All- Ireland Junior Cup final and the place was packed. Everyone said it was an ideal location and good pitches.
Can you remember the first time you went to compete with the club?
I wore glasses as young lad so rugby was not the best sport but I did play one year at U-13 when I was in sixth class in Ratheniska and Glen Caroll got me out.
When I came back from Australia in 1999 I went out to play again and I’m involved ever since.
What is your favourite memory while being involved?
I have a lot of memories linked to the club. I was lucky enough to be on a few teams that won cups and leagues and last year I put a 3rds team together.
We won the Micheal Dunne cup with nine over 40s playing – Mark Delany being the only one under 40 – we also had great young guys like Tommy Martin, Diarmuid Joyce, Jack Murphy and Chris Cahill.
The year we won the Towns Cup, we had some craic. Benny Dowling, Gorden Gee and myself did the match video, a gang of us went to the game on a bus and that night in the clubhouse a great day.
Did you enjoy much success in the underage grade?
No because I didn’t play really.
Who did you look up to in the club when you were younger?
When I started in 1999, the likes of Brian and Alan Gee and Nigel Peavoy were brilliant. Scruf (Paddy McEvoy) would put himself in there but we can park him.
Will Sherlock was a young pup coming through, walking out over everyone. Now with his bad hip he has to push them out of the way with the slowest hand off in Ireland! But as he says himself, it works
Oh and a young Joe Fleming was coming on the scene – some say he was too good looking for rugby!
There’s loads of guys you could name Gally (Ian Galbraith), the Kingsleys (Alan and Johnny), Jamie Kavanagh, the great Michael Fenelly – all those boys were class players and in my book should still be playing.
What young player in your club would you say is one to watch out for?
Micheal Doran has burst onto the scene this year at loose head prop – he’s only 18 but by god has he got a six-cylinder engine. Robin Foot christened him in the middle of a game the ‘young rhino’ and he is right.
Peter Coss is another good guy well able to get around the place. Padie Burke is growing into solid player also a good leader.
Another man to certainly watch out for in 2018 is our apprentice grounds man Oliver Dowling!
If you could do anything to improve the club, what would it be?
A few of us got together last year with the ambition to build a gym and we went to then president Declan Kelly to see if we could look into it.
He gave the green light and we now have planning permission and so the next step if fundrasing.
Johnny Fingleton wore out two key boards doing up plans and applying for a grant. When this gym is built, I don’t think there’s a club in junior rugby and maybe senor rugby in Leinster will match it.
Such developments are needed to hold local talent here in Portlaoise because, like a lot of clubs in the midlands, we lose too many guys to Dublin and larger clubs.
I think the club has started making inroads into the schools around the county through our CCRO Paul Brady and hopefully we can get schools rugby going in the county.
What’s the best and worst thing about being involved?
The best thing about being involved is that all of my best friends have been made through rugby.
While the worst thing about being involved is the fact that you are gone almost all day on Sunday.
Portlaoise meet Skerries this Sunday in the Towns Cup in Togher at 3pm
