Connacht Under-17 League Semi-Final
Ballinaloe RFC 38, Creggs RFC 15.
Creggs Under-17’s boys lost out to Ballinasloe in the Semi Final of the Connacht Under-17 League last Sunday morning in Ballinasloe. Creggs began the game well and had a try dissallowed from Mark Purcell for a harsh forward pass before eventually taking the lead through a very well taken try by Aaron Lyons in the corner after great work from Darragh Kiernan, Ciaran Corcoran and Tiernan O Sullivan up front and Sean Trundle, Darren Gately and Cian Glennon out the backs.
Unfortunately after having the majority of possession and territory for the first 20 minutes Creggs found themselves behind after an interception in midfield allowed Ballinasloe in for a soft try under the posts and Ballinasloe followed that up swiftly with a second try to lead 14-5.
Creggs regrouped and good work from Kian Moran, Ronan Lambe and Lorcan Maher was rewarded when Mark Purcell released Jack Deegan in for a try in the corner leaving the half time score 14-10 in Ballinasloe’s favour.
Creggs were short a few regulars and Ballinasloe started the second half by kicking Creggs back into their own 22″ and as the Creggs pack tired and with no options on the bench on the day, Ballinasloe got in for 3 further tries, 1 from a block down and one from confusion in the Creggs defence after a loose kick from Ballinasloe.
Creggs responded with a try from Ciaran Corcoran. Certainly, the scoreline does not reflect on the true balance of this game. There is much less between these two sides and Ballinasloe has been undefeated at this age-level this season.
Hopefully this Creggs Under-17’s can have a full squad available for the upcoming Connacht Cup games as they will be very competitive if they have a full squad – I have no doubt that with a full squad, these lads could beat anyone on their day.
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Creggs Rugby: Jack Deegan, Aaron Lyons, Cian Glennon, Mark Purcell, Ben Finnerty, Darren Gately, Sean Trundle, Jack Tucker, Ronan Lambe, Kian Moran, Daniel Hill, Darragh Kiernan, Lorcan Maher, Tiernan O Sullivan, Ciaran Corcoran, Daniel O’Brien, Kyle Kelly, Conor McNulty, Mark Dowd, and Naoise Coyle.