SKIBBEREEN RFC is more than capable of producing a positive second half to their Munster Junior League Division 1 season, according to team manager PJ Dinan.

A glance at the Division 1 table makes for frustrating viewing if you are a Skibbereen player, mentor or supporter.

Positioned second from bottom – on 11 points from their seven outings – Skibb appear to be in serious trouble ahead of the second half of the season. But the West Cork rugby club’s league position only tells a portion of the story.

One score losses to Bandon, league leaders Kilfeacle and District, St Mary’s, Old Christians, a 33-33 draw away to Kanturk and a win over old Christians underlines why a young Skibbereen squad has every chance of moving up the standings in the New Year.

Frustration is the word that best describes Skibb RFC’s current campaign according to team manager PJ Dinan.

‘Frustration, absolutely, especially with some of our results that were so close and could have gone our way,’ Dinan told The Southern Star.

‘If you didn’t know anything about us, looking at the table you’d say “Jesus, these lads are in big trouble”.

‘On the inside, we know the fact that we have our Junior 2 squad up and running for the first time this year, and that we would have fulfilled all of our fixtures only for the bad weather, means we are on the right track.

‘There are more players training regularly now than we’ve had in a long, long time. We’re getting good numbers at both of our training sessions each week. As a result, the quality of our training has gone up.

‘That’s why there is still a bit of frustration with some of those games we lost as they were so close. No one is panicking though.

‘We know, looking ahead to our second block of games after Christmas, that we have to start winning our home games and see if we can pick up something on the road as well.’

Skibbereen restart their Division 1 campaign with a home fixture against Mallow on January 4th. Newcastle West (away) and Thurles (home) precede a crunch local derby with highflying Clonakilty at Shannonvale on February 8th.

‘Whoever we play, home or away, it all depends on who is available to us on the day,’ Dinan added.

‘At the start of the season, our first three fixtures against Bandon, Kilfeacle and Richmond, on paper at least, were very, very tough.

‘We should certainly have beaten Bandon at home the first day out. We travelled to (current league leaders) Kilfeacle with only 16 available players – we should have won that day as well but lost 38-37 and missed a conversion to win it.

‘Numbers were lighter at the start of the season due to football and players suffering from knocks, things like that. We are getting more and more personnel back in now and things are looking a lot more positive.

‘It is just that we need to get a bit of momentum, get a win in one of those big upcoming games and just get a bit of confidence back really.’

Dinan knows how tight this year’s Munster Junior Division 1 is. Just eight points separate 13th-placed Skibbereen and fifth-placed Kanturk. On their day, any team is capable of beating any other team in the division.

While Skibbereen RFC’s current plight makes for disappointing viewing, the fact the club has introduced a new J2 squad, means there are plenty of reasons to be positive heading into 2026.

‘We have to start winning tight games,’ Dinan said.

‘It starts with Mallow on January 4th, and that’s the first goal. Try to win that. Move on to the next game and then try to win that. Take things step by step, simple as that.

‘Hopefully, now that we have a bit of a break over Christmas, one or two players with injuries and niggles might get cured up. Hopefully, we will be a bit stronger going into the second block of our league fixtures.

‘The new year will be all about building on our J2 panel. The majority of those players are under 20 plus one or two old stagers. Hopefully, there will be fellas on our J1 team looking over their shoulder and realising they have to up their game to keep their place. That’s the way I want to have things here in Skibbereen because I believe that’s what will drive us forward as a club.’