Ferguson targets league title next season

Bandon RFC captain accepts West Cork Sports Star award

BY KIERAN McCARTHY

TOM Ferguson is confident that Bandon RFC can mount a serious challenge for the Munster Junior League Division 1 title next season.

The Bandon captain is the latest Celtic Ross West Cork Sports Star monthly award winner (April) following the club’s historic Munster Junior Cup success last month, and he is already setting his sights on the 2017/18 league crown.

‘The league is the big thing for us every year and it will be the target again next season,’ Ferguson said at the award presentation at the Celtic Ross Hotel, Rosscarbery on Monday evening.

‘There’s a few fellas moving on and we’ll have a few come up from the U18s so it’s how quickly we can gel together at the start of the season and kick on from there.

‘We had only three defeats in the league this year, we are there or thereabouts, the games we lost weren’t by much either, so we’re knocking on the door.

‘We got to the junior cup semi-final last year and came back to win it this year, and we’ve been close in the league the last two seasons so hopefully we can take the next step next season.’

Bandon finished third in Division 1 this season to follow on from their second place finish the previous campaign so they’ve established themselves as one of the most consistent teams in Munster, highlighted by their first-ever Munster Junior Cup win when they defeated Young Munster in the final in Thomond Park.

A few weeks later they added the County Cup to their trophy cabinet – good times for Bandon rugby.

‘One of the things we set out to do at the start of the season was win some silverware – and we did that,’ Ferguson said.

‘Our main focus was the league and we were a bit disappointed not to win that, but that shows the competitiveness that’s in this team. 

‘To come away with the Munster Junior Cup is massive when you see how much it meant to everyone in the club, and then to win the County Cup after that was massive as well.

‘The J2s won two cups, and at underage, the U14s, U16s and U18s all did well this season, so it’s been a great year for the whole club. Winning the West Cork Sports Star Award is the icing on the cake. I’m accepting the award but that’s on behalf of the team and the club – the amount of work that everyone has put in, from volunteers to the committee to the players, is unbelievable.’

Ferguson was joined by Bandon RFC teammates, head coach Regis Sonnes and manager Dan Murphy at the Celtic Ross Hotel for West Cork Sports Star award presentation.