Creggs RFC men’s first team travelled to Tuam RFC to play in the Cawley Plate final on Sunday last. Their opponents were Ballinasloe.
Creggs played with the advantage of a strong downfield wind in the first half and opened the scoring with an early try by Eoghan Coyle which scrum-half Cormac Dolan converted. Ballinasloe hit back with a try. Xavier Tavai scored a crucial try for Creggs before half-time, again converted by Dolan, leaving Creggs 14-5 in front at the break.
A powerful second-half display by Creggs paved the way to victory. Creggs upped their performance level significantly on the resumption and forged further ahead with tries by Ethan Glennon, Xavier Tavai, Cormac Dolan and Mark Dowd, with Ballinasloe also crossing for a well-taken try, leaving the final score Creggs 34 Ballinasloe 19.
Creggs start their J1A League campaign with an away game in Westport on October 10th. This will be followed by journeys to Ballina and Connemara, so the players will need to be fully focussed on the three difficult assignments in the 1A league, with an upcoming All-Ireland Junior Cup game away to Dromore RFC also on the horizon.
WOMEN’S RUGBY: Creggs RFC senior women travelled to Galway early on Sunday morning for round 1 of the Women’s J1A League. Opponents Galwegians played a notably strong team as they had no AIL match over the weekend and they came out of the blocks early with four unanswered tries to take a commanding 26-0 lead.
Creggs took some time to build their way into the game but once they did they were right back in contention. Susan O’Reilly pitched in with three tries, all converted by Mia White, making it Galwegians 26 Creggs 21.
However, the huge effort made to get back into the game and the loose, open nature of the contest took its toll. Galwegians ran in a couple of late tries to leave the final score Galwegians 42 Creggs 21.
Creggs play Westport away this weekend in the next round of the league. This will be another tough test for the currently depleted squad.
U-13 BOYS: Creggs RFC U-13 Boys got their league campaign off to a winning start on Sunday afternoon with an away trip to Ballina RFC. Both teams battled hard in the early exchanges with Creggs slowly starting to build the phases.
Creggs scored first when winger Michael Greene squeezed into the corner to get the first of his two tries of the half. The hard running from all the Creggs players was starting to cause trouble for the Ballina defence and it was back row players, Noah Hughes and Kian Heavey, who capitalised with two well-taken tries.
The second half started with Creggs on the attack again and Hughes got over for his second try. A slight lapse in concentration saw Ballina run in a length-of-the-pitch try, but Creggs struck back immediately when Matthew Coffey showed great handling skills to get in for their sixth try.
Heavey finished the day off with a hat-trick, scoring two more late tries. With five conversions from the boot of Senan Coyne, the match finished with Creggs winners by 50-7. Every player from 1 to 22 had a big part to play in the win, with some very strong carries and great teamwork and support.
Creggs: Noah O’Dowd, Ben Brides, Finn Diffley, Shane Doyle, Jamie Mulrooney, Adam McCormack, Kian Heavey, Noah Hughes, Senan Coyne, Alex Doolan, Michael Greene, Karol Rola, Conor Gilleran, Isaac Muldoon, David Langan, Ryan Maloney, Charlie O’Connor, Conor Conlon, Matthew Coffey, Ryan Kilroe, Ryan Healy, Dara Heneghan.
U-18 GIRLS: Creggs RFC U-18 Girls played their first league game on Saturday last, hosting Sligo RFC in a home fixture. Sligo got off to a great start with two early tries, but Creggs came back into the game when Kayla Walsh ran a great line and broke a tackle to get behind the Sligo defence and score under the posts. Grace Shaughnessy kicked the conversion.
The Creggs forwards started to up their game as they grew into the match. Emily Kelly scored a try, Shaughnessy again landing the conversion. Creggs finished the half with another try, this time when tighthead prop, Kate Madden, touched down after some great interplay between backs and forwards.
The second half started well for Creggs with a quick tap and go from Lola Glennon on the 22 after Sligo strayed offside at a ruck. Glennon got tackled five metres out and Myah Madden picked up the ball to score under the post. Shaughnessy converted again.
Mattea Cox rounded out the game with a try from close range with five minutes to go. The teams were very evenly matched and the final score didn’t reflect the effort of the Sligo girls who were hard to break down in defence.
Congratulations to Siún McElgunn who came on to play her first game of rugby. Training continues each Tuesday at 8 pm.
QUID GAMES: Keep an eye out for our fundraisers who are preparing for the Creggs RFC Quid Games on October 10th at the Mattie McDonagh Centre in Ballygar where a night of music, fun and games will take place (see pages 16 & 17).
There’s a €10,000 prize for the charity of choice of the winner. Tickets are still available for people who wish to attend what promises to be a great event.
