Creggs pushing hard for place in league final
The Creggs senior women's squad that lost out to OLBC at the Dexcom Stadium, Galway, on Sunday last.
Creggs secured an important bonus point win over OLBC at a windswept Dexcom Stadium in Sunday's J1C League game.
Maurice Buckley scored an early try for Creggs but Boys Club dominated from the restart and scored a penalty during a period of sustained pressure.
A well-taken try by second-row Tom Farrell settled any remaining Creggs nerves before Padraig Geraghty scored a brilliant solo try to leave his side leading 19-3 after 30 minutes. Lee Kilcoyne and Michael Farrell scored spectacular tries in the run-up to half time to hand Creggs a 31-3 advantage at the change of ends. Brian Cleary landed four conversions from five kicks.
Creggs had to play into a strong wind during the second half but they defended well before powerful number 8, Jack Tucker, crossed for a fine try midway through the second half to kill off any hopes of a Boys Club victory.
However, they did score a well-deserved try in the closing stages as both sides emptied their benches before referee David Burke brought proceedings to a halt.
There were 29 Creggs players available, so team positions, and first team places, are at a premium.
Creggs face Ballina in the J1C League next Sunday at home with a 2.30 p.m. kick-off where a big turnout is expected. They will be seeking another victory to maintain their push for a place in the league final against unbeaten Galwegians on March 3rd at the Dexcom Stadium.
Hard luck to Creggs senior women’s team who lost out to OLBC, 29-5, in the final of the invitational plate at the Dexcom Stadium in Galway on Sunday last.
This is the first year of competitive rugby for most of the Creggs squad and the scoreline doesn't reflect the effort and improvement in the squad in only their fourth game.
Having an injury in the front row early in the game and having been reduced to 14 players for a large portion of the game due to having to go to uncontested scrums, meant the girls would always be under pressure. But they put in a great performance to be only 10-0 behind at half time.
Creggs did get in for a try by Abbie Murray when the score was 17-0. But the consequences of being short on the bench as the game progressed took its toll as they leaked two late tries.
The Creggs U-16 boys’ team got their cup campaign underway when they travelled to Sligo on Saturday.
In a tightly fought game, Creggs came out victorious with a three-point win. Creggs winger, Dan Kelly, opened the scoring, squeezing into the corner to touch the ball down. Kaylum Curran added a penalty a few minutes later, extending the lead to 8-0, which was the half-time score.
Sligo upped their game in the second half. Creggs absorbed a lot of pressure and eventually Sligo broke the Creggs defence to score under the posts, taking the seven points on offer.
Creggs started to make a few changes with Dylan Fallon coming on for Pierce Fannon, Ruairí Webb for Robert Bligh, and Myles McSharry for Harry Kilcoyne. With fresh legs on the pitch, Creggs reasserted themselves on the opposition and a nice kick through by Kaylum Curran put Jack Finn away in the corner. A tremendous conversion by Curran stretched the lead to 15-7.
Sligo weren’t ready to throw in the towel and scored again under the post but the conversion was missed when it came off the post.
Heading into the last five minutes, Creggs were leading 15-12. Cian Trimble was injured and replaced by Rory Kelly. With one score between them, any mistake by Creggs could have been costly. But time was to run out for the Sligo challenge when Creggs won a scrum for a knock-on and they duly put the ball off the park for the win.
This victory for Creggs put them in the driving seat in the group stages of the cup. Their next scheduled game is against Dunmore in two weeks’ time.
The Creggs U-14 boys’ team were at home against Ballinrobe in the first round of the Connacht Cup on Saturday afternoon.
From the start, the home team dominated the first half with tries from Ciarán Cunnane, Ryan Halligan, Mark Fox, Calum Ward and Mark Naughton. Cathal Nerney added four conversion to leave the half-time score 33-0.
Creggs took advantage of their squad in the second half and were held up over the line alongside having a try disallowed. Finally, Daithí Kelly powered home under the posts to score a try, with Cormac Doyle adding the conversion.
To their credit, Ballinrobe fought hard and defended to the end to leave the final score Creggs 40, Ballinrobe 0. Next up for this team is a trip to Ballina for the second round of the competition next Saturday.
CREGGS: Cameron Clark, Rian Healy, George Hoban, Kyiv Cahill, Fionn Healy, Ryan Halligan, Tom Óg Reddington, Austin Smith, Calvin Beckett, Mark Naughton, Ryan Lynch, Ciarán Cunnane, Calum Ward, Cathal Nerney, Mark Fox, Cormac Doyle, Daniel Connolly, Daithí Kelly, Mark McLoughlin, Michael Tierney, Ethan Galvin, Will O’Gara, Tomás Lohan.
The Creggs RFC mini section had big numbers again on Saturday morning. As the grass pitches were out of play with the heavy rainfall, everybody had to use the 4G pitch alongside the Creggs Primary School pitch. Thanks to everyone turning up.
On Saturday, Galway Corinthians RFC took on Skerries RFC in the Energia League game played on Creggs’ 4G surface.
This was a home game for Corinthians but as their home pitch was waterlogged, the game was moved to Creggs. A big crowd of over 200 spectators watched an excellent game, which Skerries won 25-24 thanks to try in injury time.
Ex-Creggs player Pat Cunningham is the current coach with Corinthians.
The Creggs lotto was not won and now stands at €12,000. The lucky dip winner was the White family.
The club asks members, families and friends to support Creggs RFC by joining the lotto on www.creggsrugby.ie.
