Creggs senior women got back to winning ways in the Senior Women’s League by defeating University of Galway 38-7 in Galway last Sunday.
Creggs started well and after some good phases captain Susan O’Reilly went over after five minutes for a 5-0 lead.
Creggs were playing against the wind in the first half and a well-drilled college team pinned them back and got in for a score of their own on ten minutes. A successful conversion put them 7-5 ahead.
Sabina Egan was the next try scorer for Creggs when she beat the defence to score near the posts after 18 minutes, a try which Eabha Dowd converted for a 12-7 lead. Creggs scored another try out wide after a great run from Seren Griffiths near the stroke of half-time, Eabha Dowd expertly converting. Creggs led 19-7 at the interval.
In the second half Cregg had the wind behind them, the weather by then deteriorating, both sides making handling errors. Ten minutes in, Creggs got in for another try, securing the bonus point when Stacey Corbally touched down from close-range. Eabha Dowd converted again to extend Creggs’ lead to 26-7.
Creggs continued to stretch the well-organised college defence, however the ‘last pass’ often just didn’t seem to stick. But Creggs managed another try when a crossfield kick by Eabha Dowd was well chased by Shauna Fitzmaurice who still had a lot of work to do with a defender hanging onto her. Shauna managed to crash over to extend the lead to 31-7.
With the last play of the game and after multiple phases, Shauna Fitzmaurice broke through the defence again for another try, Eabha Dowd converting to leave the final score 38-7.
Creggs will play Galwegians in Galway on January 25th in what is effectively a league semi-final with the winner progressing to the league final (as both teams have only had one league defeat).
U-17 BOYS: Last Sunday Creggs Boys U-17s welcomed Ballina RFC for their first outing of 2026. Creggs got off to a fast start and some quick thinking by Conor Flynn saw him find a gap and score under the posts after five minutes.
Tricky conditions led to errors on both sides and there was a lull in scoring. After 25 minutes Robbie McArdle scored from a tap penalty before Ballina punished a series of penalties to score in the corner.
In the dying minutes of the first half Creggs were held up over the line twice before Kian Hughes managed to power over under the posts in the last play of the first half to leave the score at Creggs 21 Ballina 5.
There were no scores for 20 minutes of the second half, before Harry Waldron kicked a penalty to extend the Creggs lead. Five minutes later a slick move by Creggs was finished in the corner by Luke Hayes.
Ballina never gave up and crossed for two tries of their own before Creggs captain Conor Flynn rounded off the scoring with a kick through and chase to tap down under the posts. Harry Waldron converted all five tries and scored a penalty in a perfect kicking display from the tee. Final score: Creggs 38 Ballina 17.
Panel: Cathal Mulry, Robbie McArdle, Conor Hannon, Oisin Connolly, AJ Tully, James Murray, Patrick Zwierczyk, Kian Hughes, Sean Richardson, Harry Waldron, Jamie Finneran, Patrick Conneally, Conor Flynn, Luke Hayes, Brian O’Connor, Davy Fetherstone, Patrick Murray, Conor Muldoon, Matthew Walsh, Andrej Anic, Dominic Mrozek.
LOTTO: The club lotto jackpot was not won and increases to €9,000 this weekend. Congrats to the lucky dip winner, Kiaran O’Loughlin. Please join our lotto where the proceeds are used to run our rugby teams.