| Castlebar 19 Galwegians 5 | |||||
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Castlebar played Galwegians in Cloondeash on Sunday afternoon in round 9 of the Connacht J1 League.
Junior 1A Castlebar played Galwegians in Cloondeash on Sunday afternoon in round 9 of the Connacht J1 League. This was a typical winter day with a sharp southwest breeze keeping everyone on their toes. The rugby reflected this with a very intense and lively game. Both teams are mid table but Galwegians had the better of Castlebar in the corresponding fixture last season. Unusually they arrived without a viable front row and referee Paul Jennings decreed that the scrums would be uncontested. The game started at a dynamic pace with play moving from end to end without any great threat of a score. Galwegians were playing the better rugby through fine work from Colin Flannery and Alex O'Sullivan when at the end of the first quarter they were awarded a penalty for an infringement outside the Castlebar 22. The Galwegians scrumhalf Ben Draper took it quickly then broke on the blindside before offloading to Tom Quinn who went over in the corner for the opening try of the game. Ross Shaughnessy however missed the conversion. This seemed to spur on Castlebar who moved upfield with purpose through powerful running from Eugene Butterworth, Ger Prendergast and Alex Goor. Tadhg Kirby made a fine break through the Galwegians defence which lead to Mark Staunton crossing the Galwegians line under severe pressure only to have a 5 metre scrum awarded as the ball was not visible.Christy Cusack broke from the base of the resultant scrum to touch down and level the match. Fintan Casey was unsuccesful with the conversion attempt. Castlebar continued to pressure Galwegians resulting in a penalty for a high tackle on Tadhg Kirby. Richie Feeney was unsuccessful however. As the game stayed in the Galwegians half Martin Mulkerring misjudged a ball to knockon and give Castlebar a scrum and a chance of another score. This resulted in a penalty for offside which was taken quickly and the ball fed to Eugene Butterworth who burst through the Galwegians defece and offloaded to Tadhg Kirby who touched down under the posts. Richie Feeney converted to leave the halftime score 12 - 5 to Castlebar. The second half was as intense as the first. For Castlebar Ger Prendergast, David Staunton and Paddy Flannelly were putting in great performances while Jason Keane was working well and combined well with the resurgent Christy Cusack at scrum half. Their good work released Eugene Butterworth for Castlebars third try when the powerful South African touched down under the posts. Fullback Richie Feeney again converted. Castlebar were now looking for the fourth try and bonus point but the Galwegians effort did not wane and when Daire Mulgrew made a great break everyone thought it had come but for great tackling from Lloyd Cole and Terry O'Donnell who kept him out. The game ended Castlebar 19 Galwegians 5. Castlebar :- Richie Feeney, Fintan Casey, Tadhg Kirby, Mark Staunton, Chris Rogan, Jason Keane, Chris Cusack, Eugene Butterworth, Paddy Durcan, Liam Molloy, Rory Hughes, Alex Goor, Paddy Flannelly, Ger Prendergast, David Staunton .Subs Simon O'Malley, Daire Mulgrew, Brian Flannery. Galwagians :- Ciaran O'Beirne, Martin Mulkerring, Terry O'Donnell, Lloyd Cole, John Corcoran, Ross Shaughnessy, Ben Draper, Colin Flannery, Ross Fitzgerald, Doran McHugh, Spencer Perkins, Dave Rogers, Tom Quinn, Liam Griffin, Alex O'Sullivan, Subs :- Paddy O'Malley, Denis McCarthy, Eamonn Molloy. CASTLEBAR LEARN LESSONS Castlebar U18 have suffered two defeats recently, from which hopefully they have learned valuable lessons. Absence of regular players on both occasions led to weaknesses as players came to terms with new positions. However this is good for the longterm development of the panel. Corrib are new into the league to replace Ballinrobe who are not fielding. Good weather was enjoyed for the game, with a slight breeze favouring the visitors in the first half, who travelled with the luxury of 8 subs. It appeared a balanced encounter in the first half with Corrib scoring one try. However early in the second half they got three tries resulting from the strong running of the Corrib outhalf and lack of tackling on the Castlebar side. Two of the tries were converted. However Castlebar who were obviously unhappy with the situation played hard to defend their line against a much heavier pack. A break in the siege came towards the end of the game with a fine intercept try by the Connacht player Mark Durcan who proved very fast and astute in his run of over half the pitch. At training during the week the tackling skills were honed and a determined team took the pitch against Dunmore on Friday night. Conditions were ideal without any breeze, rain or cold. Again there were many players out of position, however Castlebar played with great fire and conviction. The tackling had obviously improved with it breaking down on only one occasion. However there were many penalties conceded by both sides for handling & holding in the rucks. Corrib chose to kick many of theirs from upto halfway but were unsuccessful on 5 occasions. Castlebar chose to run most of theirs as they were unhappy with their success in the lineouts. Both sides scored unconverted tries in the first half and Mark Durcan kicked a penalty. The second half was very much a tightly contested affair until Dunmore broke the deadlock towards the end of the game to score 2 unconverted tries. The lesson learned is to improve the lineouts which necessitates better attendance at training. This has been changed to 7pm on Mondays to ensure it happens.  |
