Creggs second team win earns home semi-final

Connacht J2 League

Creggs 2nds  32,   Loughrea 2nds  0.

Creggs Second Team continued their recent successful run with a resounding home victory over Loughrea at the Green on Saturday evening. This win earns them a home Connacht League Semi-Final, with one game still to play. 

LEAGUE TABLE J2 LEAGUE

Pos	Team	Played	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Ded	Pts
1	OLBC	8	7	0	1	169	108	61	1	0	29
2	Creggs	7	6	0	1	101	56	45	1	0	25
3	Galwegians	7	4	0	3	159	64	95	3	0	19
4	Connemara	7	4	0	3	228	135	93	3	0	19
5	Tuam	7	4	0	3	121	119	2	2	0	18
6	Oughterard	7	3	0	4	128	192	-64	0	0	12
7	Claremorris	8	2	0	6	92	159	-67	2	0	10
8	Sligo	8	2	0	6	60	149	-89	1	0	9
9	Loughrea	7	1	0	6	46	122	-76	1	-1	4

The final scoreline does not reflect that the home team had to battle all the way against a strong Loughrea side, which tired in the closing stages but never gave up.

Ger Heneghan landed an early penalty to settle Creggs nerves and he also made a fine break which resulted in a try by the impressive Michael Feeley after 18 minutes. Heneghans conversion gave Creggs a 10 nil lead. 

Loughrea’s big pack began to ask serious questions of the Creggs defence but the tackling was solid all through. Ger Heneghan added a penalty goal for Creggs in the 55th minute.

That was followed by Philip Leech scoring a spectacular try when he broke clear from deep inside his own half to outpace tbe Loughrea defence and touch down for a brilliant solo score which Heneghan converted.

Shortly afterwards, Mattie Corcoran powered through for another fine try before Michael Feeley completed the scoring with another blistering run which left the cover for dead. 

Creggs can take a lot of heart from this display with backs and forwards combining well and the bench also providing a big impact when called into action .

Creggs travel to Oughterard for their final League game next Sunday and have now qualified for a home semi-final when the competition reaches the knockout phase.

Creggs Rugby: Bernard Kilcommons, Michael Farrell, Michael Holland, Ruairi O’Brollochain, Philip Leech, Ger Heneghan, Stephen Crehan, Tommy Curley, Enda Tully, Paul Mc Neill, Kevin Rushe, Neville Walker, Mattie Corcoran, Alan Glennon, Michael Feeley, Dan Butt, Seamus Collins, Graham Curran, Andy Boyle, Enda Garvey, Tom Coleman, Damien Miskell, Matthew Butt, and Kieran Ryan.

Training continues on Tuesday and Friday nights with returning and new players always welcome. Contact Team Manager Sean Brandon or Coaches: Bernard Kilcommins, Mattie Corcoran, and Vincent Collins. 

Creggs suffer narrow loss to Ballinrobe

Connaught Junior League

Ballinrobe 16,  Creggs 15.

A game that had begun so promisingly for Creggs ultimately yielded only a losing bonus point as the team suffered its first setback since the League opener back in September. This result reduces Creggs lead at the top of the table to just 2 points over second placed Castlebar. However with Castlebar due to play third placed Tuam in Tuam on Saturday night, Creggs title aspirations should remain on track if they win their last two games beginning with the visit of NUIG to the Green in Creggs this Sunday.   

CONNACHT J1 LEAGUE TABLE

Pos	Team	Played	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Ded	Pts
1	Creggs	12	9	1	2	217	111	106	5	0	43
2	Castlebar	12	8	1	3	274	177	97	7	0	41
3	Tuam	12	6	2	4	231	158	73	8	0	36
4	NUIG	11	5	1	5	229	203	26	6	0	28
5	Corinthians	11	5	0	6	209	179	30	5	-1	24
6	Ballinrobe	10	4	0	6	166	218	-52	4	0	20
7	Corrib	12	4	1	7	124	311	-187	0	0	18
8	Dunmore	10	1	0	9	147	240	-93	5	-1	8

The opening quarter in Ballinrobe gave little hint of what was to come, Creggs began impressively, putting the home side under pressure from the kick-off and within 10 minutes were 10 points to the good, thanks to a Mark Brandon penalty and a try from Tom Fleming under the posts converted by Brandon.  

Shortly after that James Brandon crossed near the posts but the referee adjudged a forward pass earlier in the move and Ballinrobe, boosted by that let-off, clawed their way back into the game, helped in no small measure by an uncharacteristic sequence of handling errors by Creggs who were finding it increasingly difficult to deal with their opponents aggressive and highly disciplined defensive strategy.  

Creggs tried vainly to break through the midfield channels and the momentum swung in favour of Ballinrobe with out-half Daniel Keane landing a penalty on the half hour and just before half time a rare defensive lapse by Creggs allowed centre Paul Staunton to glide through for a relatively easy try converted by Keane to leave the sides tied at the interval.  

Ballinrobe began impressively in the second half, with Keane landing a second penalty shortly after the re-start but Creggs hit back with a fine try from right-winger Ryan Horan to leave his team narrowly in front as the game entered its final quarter.  

It was increasingly evident that the margin calls were going Ballinrobe’s way and when Creggs were penalised and sin-binned for a hotly disputed late tackle, Keane availed of the opportunity to land his third penalty, 

Creggs pressed frantically in the final stages and missed a kickable penalty but the final play saw Creggs spilling the ball in the tackle which summed up a bad day at the office. 

This was compounded by a couple of injuries with Shane Purcell definitely ruled out for the remaining two League games. We wish him a speedy recovery. Training continues on Tuesday and Friday nights. 

Creggs Rugby: Shane Purcell, Elliot Jennings, Kevin Gavin, Tom Callaghan, Chris Duignan, Mark Brandon, Andrew Callaghan, Tom Fleming, Sean O’Higgins, Aidan Leech, Brian Donoghue, Kevin Brandon, Ronan Cahill, Alan Brandon, James Brandon, Mike Blighe, Maurice Buckley, Peter Lohan, Ryan Horan, Michael Holland.

 

YOUTH RUGBY

Creggs Under-13’s to play Corinthians in the Cup

Connacht Under-13 Cup:

Creggs Under-13’s have also been drawn away to Corinthians RFC in the last 16 of the ConnachtUnder-13 Cup on next Sunday at 12 Noon. The time is to be confirmed. Please support the lads in their Cup game.

  Under-12 players are reminded that if they do not play for the Under-12’s in Mini Rugby, they are not eligible to play at any time for the Under-13’s team. This IRFU rule will be strictly monitored and enforced without exception. 

  Creggs Under-13 Training is on each Tuesday at 6pm in Astro Turf in Lisnamult, Roscommon. New players alway welcome.

Creggs Under-14’s record big Cup win

Connacht Under-14 Cup:

Creggs RFC  41,   Oughterard RFC 0.

Creggs Under-14’s had a big win over Oughterard RFC in the Connacht Under-14 Cup last Saturday night in Creggs. 

  Creggs had tries from Tomas Tiernan, Lee Kilcoyne, Daniel Flynn, Edimar Fimho (2), Jack Fleming and Aodhan Looby and 3 conversions from Cormac Dolan on the night. 

  Impressive for Creggs on the night were Michael McAteer, Ciaran Purcell and Josh Verling up fornt while DJ Hession directed things from 10 very well. Meanwhile Oisin O’Beirne and Ryan Conlon were a constant threat out wide. 

  In the second half Daniel O shaughnessy, Patrick Keane, Cormac Feeley and Sean Curley did very well on their introduction. Creggs will now play a very favoured Corinthian RFC away in the Quarter final in two weeks time. Corinthians had a 32-10 victory over Creggs in the Connacht League Final so Creggs will need a change of fortune in two weeks, but best of luck lads.  

 Training for Under-14’s is on every Tuesday at 7pm in the Astro Turf in Roscommon. New players aways welcome.

Creggs Under-15’s have home Cup fixture v Claremorris

Connacht Under-15 Cup:

Creggs Under-15’s play their Connacht Under-15 Cup game at home to Claremorris RFC on Monday night at 7.30pm.. Time to be confirmed. Please support the lads in their Cup game.

 Training continues every Thursday at 7pm in Astro Turf in Roscommon. New players always welcome.

Big away win for Cregg’s Under-16’s in Galway

Connacht Under-16 Cup:

NUIG  17,   Creggs RFC  77.

Played in beautiful conditions on a great surface in the University grounds at Dangan in Galway last Saturday, Creggs Under-16’s ran out 77 points to 17 winners over NUIG in the Connacht Under-16 Cup.  

Creggs started the game well and got the first try through Aaron Lyons which Mark Purcell converted but within 5 minutes found themselves 10-7 down but after that Creggs took complete control and had further tries through Mark Purcell, Rory Callaghan, Luke Divilly, Ciaran Corcoran (3), David Gaquin (2), Aaron Lyons, Lorcan Maher and Darren Gately while NUIG managed to cross for another try in the second half. 

  Also excellent for Creggs on the day were Adam Donnelly, Jack Tucker and Cian Glennon. Creggs now have a tough Connacht Cup Quarter-Final draw, when they travel to play Cup favourites Galwegians in two weeks time.  

  Training continues on Thursdays at 7pm in Astro Turf in Roscommon. New players always welcome.

Creggs Under-17’s play Sligo in last 16 of Connacht Cup 

Connacht Under-17 Cup:

Creggs Under-17’s start their Connacht Cup campaign with a difficult away trip to Sligo RFC on next Sunday at 2.30pm. Please support the lads in their Cup game.

  Training continues on Thursdays at 7pm in Astro Turf in Roscommon. New players always welcome.

Cregg’s Under-18’s progress to the last 8 in the Cup

Creggs Under-18.5’s now progress to the Quarter-Final of the Connacht Cup, so on Sunday week, they face the winner of Loughrea RFC v Westport RFC. 

  Best wishes for a speedy recover from injuries to Shane Purcell, Tim Lambe, and Aodha Hession.

  Training continues on Fridays at 8pm at the Astro Turf in Roscommon. New players always welcome.

MINI RUGBY

Creggs Minis travel to Claremorris RFC on next Saturday (24th February) @10am 

New players always welcome in each age-group from Under-7 up to Under-12.

N.B. – News on Girls Mini Rugby in the coming weeks.

A reminder that all Under-12 players must play for the Under-12’s in Mini Rugby or they will be ineligible to play at any time for the Under-13 (where required). This IRFU rule is strictly monitored and enforced without exception.

CREGGS RUGBY LOTTO

The Creggs Rugby Lotto Draw numbers this week were: 5, 8, 20, 22. There was no winner of the jackpot, which now rises to €7,000 for the next weekly draw. 

The winner of the Lucky Dip draw this week was GERRY O’KEEFFE.

Please support the Creggs Rugby Lotto, as we develop our new training and playing facilities for all our Mini, Youths, Schools and Senior Players. Your support is much appreciated!