Connacht Junior Cup Round One
Creggs 32 Sligo 12
Creggs maintained their recent run of results with an excellent victory over a strong Sligo team in the first round of the Connacht Junior Cup at The Green on Saturday evening.
After a scoreless opening quarter, hooker Maurice Buckley finally broke through for a vital try following some powerful mauling by the home pack.
Shortly afterwards, a superbly placed kick by Shane Dowd unlocked the Sligo defence for winger Thomas Flynn to gather the ball at full speed and cross for a fine try in the right corner.
Sligo responded with a series of attacks which yielded a try after a defensive mix-up close to the Creggs line. With half-time looming, out-half Shane Dowd cut through for a superb solo try to put Creggs 15-5 ahead but Sligo closed the half with a converted try to reduce the deficit to three points.
Maurice Buckley scored his second try in the 54th minute following a close-in maul and Tom Oates crossed for another in the 67th minute as Creggs took control.
In the final minute, Creggs scored a magnificent try with winger Chris Duignan crossing out wide. Duignan richly deserved his try as his defensive display was top class from start to finish.
Creggs advance to the quarter-finals where they have a home game against Monivea on the weekend of February 9th.
Creggs resume Connacht J1 League action with back-to-back games against Galwegians, one of which has been re-fixed from earlier in the season.
First up is a trip to Glenina on Sunday, and then it’s back to Creggs the following Sunday. These are two difficult hurdles which must be safely negotiated before what could be the clash of the season on February 3rd against league leaders Connemara in Creggs.
