Creggs maintain push for top three spot in league
The Creggs RFC junior team that got the better of Tuam.
Creggs overcame a determined Tuam side in Sunday's J1C League encounter played in difficult conditions on the 4G pitch in Creggs.
Tuam dominated the early exchanges and deservedly went ahead with a well-taken try after five minutes, which was converted to give the visitors a 7-0 lead.
A perfectly-weighted chip by Michael Holland unlocked the Tuam defence for the alert Creggs centre, Jack Fleming, to win the race for the touchdown after 18 minutes. The impressive Brian Cleary landed the conversion into a swirling wind. Cleary also added a penalty just before half time, leaving Creggs 10-7 ahead at the break.
Tuam’s cause was not helped by a red card issued for foul play but Creggs struggled to make their numerical strength count for long periods during a disjointed second half, punctuated by frequent stoppages.
Brian Cleary scored a fine try midway through the second half after Michael Holland exploited a gap in Tuam’s midfield defence. However, Tuam hit back with a try out wide to leave just three points between the teams before second-row, Luke Divilly, scored a brilliant individual try for Creggs following a 50 metre run from halfway in the 71st minute.
Brian Cleary added a penalty on 76 minutes to seal a victory, which leaves Creggs well-positioned for a post-Christmas challenge for a top three spot with difficult games against league leaders Galwegians, Ballina and Carrick-on-Shannon scheduled for January.
Creggs: Ger Comer, Michael Farrell, Luke Meehan, Jack Fleming, Gearoid Egan, Brian Cleary, Mark Brandon, Matthew Curley, Enda Tully, Tommy Curley, Eoghan Cahill, Luke Divilly, Ciarán Purcell, Lee Kilcoyne, Seán O’Rourke, Michael Holland, Miguel Sousa, Michael Sampier, Aodan Kelly, Matthew Ryan, Bernard Diffley.
Creggs’ U-14 girls played Gort/Monivea in tough weather conditions on Sunday.
Some good handling skills and tackling was on display from both teams. Unfortunately, the game didn’t go as planned in what was a very tight contest. The improvement gained from training and match time is showing all the time. Well done girls, especially Leah on her try.
Creggs’ U-16 girls were soundly beaten, 50-15, in a refixed league game in Ballina on Saturday last.
Both teams had already secured a league semi-final spot. Creggs travelled with 16 girls unavailable. Thankfully, a large squad meant that Creggs still had 16 girls to fulfil the fixture and they got some valuable game time under their belt.
Creggs started the game well but were held up short a few times. The home team began to enjoy some territory after being awarded a few penalties. They got in for a couple of soft tries from far out in the first half to establish a 28-point lead at the break.
Early in the second half, the Creggs girls missed a few tackles and looked like their heads would drop when they conceded a couple of very quick tries. But they fought back and scored three very well-taken tries from Ciara Downey, Ciara Corrigan and Emily Kelly after some lovely offloads and hard carries.
The girls can now look forward to the league semi-finals in mid-January.
Creggs: Grace O’Shaughnessy, Emily Kelly, Emma Boyle, Lola Glennon, Sadie Devaney, Ella Dwyer, Sarah Mitchell, Mattea Cox, Abigail Quinn, Ciara Downey, Katie Hannon, Ciara Corrigan, Megan Crehan, Hannah Holmes. Chloe Coyne, Rocio Gamboa.
Creggs defeated Galwegians 24-7 in the ninth round of the league in Creggs on Saturday last.
The home team got off to a flying start with a try from Calvin Beckett. Creggs dominated the opening half and Mark Fox finished well to leave Creggs 10-0 ahead at the break.
Galwegians kicked off the second half, but Ciarán Cunnane collected the ball and powered home from the halfway line to extend the Creggs lead. Cathal Nerney added the conversion to leave his side ahead by 17 points.
Galwegians piled on the pressure and, consequently, the home side had a lot of defending to do. The visitors eventually got in to score a converted try.
Creggs claimed the restart and put the Galwegians defence under pressure again. George Hoban, after some good footwork and sheer power, got in for another try with Cathal Nerney adding the conversion to leave Creggs comfortable winners.
Overall, Creggs produced a great team performance and advance to the league semi-finals in January.
Creggs: Darragh Connaughton, Daniel Connolly, Shay Burke, Connor McDermott (captain), Rian Healy, Tom Óg Reddington, Ryan Halligan, Austin Smith, Calvin Beckett, Cathal Nerney, Ryan Lynch, Calum Ward, Ciarán Cunnane, Thomas Lohan, Mark Fox, Kyle Cahill, Will O’Gara, Eanna Holmes, George Hoban, Jaime Conlon,, Cameron Clark John O’Byrne, Cillian Hoare, Mark McLoughlin, Michael Tierney, Mark Naughton, Fionn Healy, Brian Moran.
Creggs’ RFC mini section ran another successful blitz on Saturday morning in great rugby weather. Last weekend’s guests were Dunmore and Buccaneers.
Almost 400 children took part, with both girls and boys teams playing matches. The mini section will now take a well-earned break until January 6th. Hopefully, Santa might drop off some rugby gear.
The jackpot was not won and now stands at €11,300 for next week’s Christmas Eve draw — definitely a nice Christmas present for someone if he/she is in.
Support would be appreciated by joining online or contact a committee member. Last week’s lucky dip winner was Kelly Henry Medical.
