Connacht Junior Cup semi-final
Ballinrobe RFC 17 Creggs RFC 25
Creggs are back in the Connacht Junior Cup Final but they were made earn it by a very organised and well coached Ballinrobe side that pushed them all the way.
Creggs opened brightly by forcing Ballinrobe to defend and a great block down by scrum-half Mark Dowd on Ballinrobe full-back Steven Conroy led to Dowd touching down for an early try near the corner. Creggs continued to apply pressure with surging attacks by Eoghan Cahill and captain James Brandon leading to second row Xavier Woodhouse being held up over the try-line.
Ballinrobe responded with strong carries from their forward pack with number 8 Jack O’Toole prominent. This led to a flowing move involving forwards and backs and Liam Lynch crashed over for a try after 20 minutes. This was converted by out-half Dylan Keane.
Creggs replied with a searing break by Brian Diffley who led from the front throughout, resulting in a lineout on the Ballinrobe 22. Prop forward Tom Farrell then crashed over for an excellent unconverted team try from the resultant drive. This left the half-time score 10-7 in favour of the away team.
The second half saw Ballinrobe rally with the loud home support cheering them on. A Creggs infringement led to a penalty from Dylan Keane which levelled the proceedings.
It was all to play for now. Creggs showed true grit and character with some superb tackling by centres Eoghan Coyle and backrows Lee Kilcoyne, Nato Kiripati and James Brandon. Slick interplay between wingers Mikey Dunne, Ronan Dowd and Mark Purcell set up a lineout positioned deep in Ballinrobe territory. Shane Purcell passed to full-back Shane Dowd who danced through a number of would-be Ballinrobe tacklers to score the all-important second try. The conversion was missed but Creggs continued applying the pressure with forwards Ciaran Purcell, Eoghan Cahill and particularly his brother Ronan, who made a huge impact off the bench, setting up an opportunity for man of the match, Tom Farrell, to score his second try which Shane Purcell duly converted from the touchline.
At 22-10 the game looked over, but Ballinrobe were not finished yet. A converted try by Steven O’Connor put just five points between the sides until a crucial late penalty by Shane Purcell eased the nerves for the Creggs men.
The strength of the Creggs bench was very important to this victory with Cormac Dolan, Darren Gately, Tommy O’Brien, Danny Arnold and the aforementioned Ronan Cahill all making telling contributions.
This was a tremendous team performance that mixed really good defence with some excellent interplay, bringing quality and energy which was the difference in the end. Creggs still have lots to improve on as they look forward to a Junior Cup final date on March 30th against near-neighbours, Dunmore RFC.
Creggs: Tom Farrell, Nato Kiripati, Eoghan Cahill, Ciaran Purcell, Xavier Woodhouse, Lee Kilcoyne, James Brandon (captain), Brian Diffley, Mark Dowd, Shane Purcell, Ronan Dowd, Eoghan Coyle, Mark Purcell, Mikey Dunne, Shane Dowd, Danny Arnold, Tom O’Brien, Ronan Cahill, Darren Gately, Cormac Dolan.
CONNACHT JUNIOR PLATE: Corrib RFC 12 Creggs RFC 25. Creggs travelled to Headford to face Corrib RFC in the quarter-final of the Junior Plate last Sunday.
A penalty by Mark Brandon gave Creggs an early lead before Corrib hit back with seven points by out-half Evan Flynn. Creggs had to survive a sin-binning during which time they kept their opponents frustrated with some staunch defensive play.
Creggs turned around at half-time trailing by four, but hit the front in the 43rd minute with a brilliant try by winger Callum Fahey, who collected a cross-kick by scrum-half Brandon and scored in the right corner. Mark Brandon landed an excellent conversion from the touchline to put Creggs 10-7 ahead.
A high tackle on Eoin Kelly led to a penalty and a yellow card which left Corrib a man down and Creggs took full advantage when Tommy Curley burst through for a try in the 54th minute which Brandon converted for a 10-point lead.
Corrib responded with a well-worked try in the 65th minute from centre Ross Gibbons. Creggs in turn responded with the score of the game when Mark Kilcommons sprinted clear for a superb try after a move involving both backs and forwards.
A late penalty by Mark Brandon confirmed a Creggs victory which was well deserved following a hugely committed display by the entire squad. Creggs now advance to the semi-final and await the draw to determine who their next opponents will be.
Creggs: Michael Farrell, Callum Fahey, Jason Hoare, Tom Callaghan, Luke Meehan, Mark Kilcommons, Mark Brandon, Patrick Fitzmaurice, Tommy Curley, Jack Tucker, Aodhan Kelly, Eoin Kelly, Peter Lohan, Michael Feeley, Luke Divilly, John O’Brien, Kevin Battles.
CONNACHT WOMEN’S LEAGUE FINAL: Creggs 12 Tuam/Oughterard/Colts (TOC) 46. Hard luck to Creggs RFC senior women’s team who lost to Tuam/Oughterard/Colts’ joint team on Sunday in the Senior Women’s league final played in Castlebar RFC grounds. The scoreline certainly doesn’t reflect the team effort where the game was in the balance until the last 20 minutes at which stage Creggs were 21-12 down but knocked on near the Tuam/Oughterard/Colts’ try-line. TOC went on to score 25 unanswered points in the last 20 minutes.
Playing in their first senior final, nerves certainly played their part as Creggs began the game by giving away two soft tries but they regained their composure and some huge carries from team captain Susan O’Reilly and Kelley Haugh gave them ‘go forward’ ball and they went on to score a try through Jemima Adams Verling and another from Hannah Coen.
Creggs had all the territory in the first 20 minutes of the second half but couldn’t break down the TOC defence. An injury to Jemima Adams Verling and a yellow card for Gabrielle Kilcommons created space in midfield and even after some great defence from the likes of Shannon Haugh and Seren Griffiths, TOC got their off-loading game going to score 25 points without reply.
It has certainly been a learning curve for the team in what was their first final, having only formed last season. Well done ladies.
Creggs: Jennifer Morris, Seren Griffiths, Jemima Adams Verling, Shannon Haugh, Stacey Corbally, Éabha Dowd, Elaine O’Grady, Susan O’Reilly (captain), Orla Timon, Sabrina Egan, Rachael O’Grady, Gabrielle Kilcommons, Hannah Coen, Merisa Kiripati, Kelley Haugh, Michaela Gillooly, Nadine Fitzmaurice, Isabelle Quinn, Abbie Murray, Tara Waldron, Victoria Livermore, Ailish O’Rourke, Grace Scanlon, Grace Hanley.
CONNACHT U-12 FESTIVAL: Creggs RFC ran the Connacht U-12 Festival on Saturday morning. Over 400 children attended, including boys and girls from 15 separate clubs across Connacht. The village was a hive of energy as players, coaches and parents flocked in.
Joe Joyce from Connacht Rugby made a guest appearance and posed for photos with the players and gave some words of wisdom to our eager minis. The festival went ahead with precision timing and the club thank all the co-ordinators, parents and of course the players for making this a special occasion.
U-14 BOYS: Creggs Boys U-14s played a challenge game against neighbours Buccaneers RFC on Sunday in Creggs. This was played in 3 x 20 minute games giving coaches on both sides an opportunity to use their full squads in different positions in preparation for the cup. 27 Creggs players were togged for these games which was a great exercise.
LOTTO: The lotto jackpot wasn’t won and now increases to €4200. The lucky dip winner was Patrick Coffey.
