Creggs take Tuam to the cleaners
The Creggs U-18 girls' rugby squad that secured a home league semi-final in January after comprehensively getting the better of Tuam-Oughterard last weekend.
Creggs welcomed Tuam RFC to Creggs on Sunday afternoon in the midst of Storm Fergus.
On a wild blustery day, both teams were evenly matched until Mark Dowd kicked into the Tuam corner, which subsequently procured Creggs a penalty that was converted by Shane Purcell after seven minutes.
The home side, playing with the wind, turned over play in their ’22, and centre Mark Purcell kicked the ball 80 metres. Another penalty was won and Shane Purcell pushed his side six points clear.
Once again, Creggs worked their way into the Tuam ’22 where a dominant scrum allowed Mark Dowd score the first try, which was converted by Purcell, to put Creggs 13 points ahead.
Just before half time, Mark Purcell executed another huge kick, winning a 50-22 lineout. It was taken quickly, allowing captain Brian Diffley get possession and cross the whitewash for his side’s second try, which was converted by Purcell to leave Creggs 20 points to the good.
Creggs kicked off in the second half, and after five minutes Shane Purcell made a great break leading to a penalty in front of the posts. Purcell was content to take the three points on offer.
Shane Purcell kicked a great grubber into the Tuam ’22 after 27 minutes of the second half. Backs Eoghan Coyle and Mikey Dunne arrived at speed, turning over the Tuam defence and allowing Brian Diffley score his second try.
Shortly afterwards, Eoghan Coyle showed his superior athleticism by breaking from the halfway line through five tackles to score Creggs’ fourth try to the left of the posts. That try pushed Creggs 33 points clear and finished the day’s scoring.
Creggs RFC passes on its good wishes to a number of players who were injured on both sides during the game.
The Creggs U-14 boys’ team played their league match against Ballina in Creggs on Saturday.
In tough conditions with a gale force wind blowing, the visitors scored first to lead by seven points. But Creggs settled into the game and Ryan Halligan scored a try in the corner to reduce the arrears to 5-7.
Ballina scored next after some good work by their forwards to stretch their advantage to 5-12 at half time.
Playing with the wind in the second half, Creggs took control of the game. Ryan Halligan scored a try, which Calvin Beckett converted to tie up the match.
Creggs were now playing well, using all their talented players and Calum Ward got in for a try to leave to push Creggs five points clear, 17-12.
Creggs collected the restart and piled on the pressure, which resulted in Calum Ward getting in for his second try of the game. Calvin Beckett added the conversion to leave the score 24-12 in the home side’s favour.
Ballina finished strongly, with Creggs having to defend for the last few minutes but, to their credit, they held out their opponents to prevail by 12 points.
It was another very good team performance. Well done to the team.
Creggs: Brian Moran, Daniel Connolly, George Hoban, Fionn Healy, Ryan Halligan, John O’Byrne, Will O’Gara, Austin Smith, Calvin Beckett, Mark Naughton, Ryan Lynch, Callum Ward, Ciaran Cunnane, Cathal Nerney, Mark Fox (captain), Tom Óg Reddington, Conor McDermott, Jamie Conlon, Eanna Holmes, Alex Doyle, Tadhg Bracken, Cillian Hoare, Cormac Doyle, Daithí Kelly, Mark McLoughlin, Cameron Clark.
U-16 GIRLS
The Creggs RFC U-16 girls travelled to Tuam to play Tuam-Oughterard in their latest league match on Saturday.
The game was played in extremely bad conditions. Consequently, the two teams played very defensively for long periods. The strong wind wasn't conducive to running flowing back play.
Tuam-Oughterard had the better of the first half with the wind and held a 12-5 lead at the break. Creggs’ try came from Emily Kelly.
With the wind behind them, Creggs got in for an excellent individual effort after a kick, chase and touch down from Ciara Corrigan early in the second half to reduce the deficit to 12-10.
Creggs continued to attack and were eventually rewarded by a try from a close-in drive by Ciara Corrigan. The score was converted by Grace O’Shaughnessy to give Creggs a 17-12 lead.
Tuam-Oughterard did manage another attack with the last play of the game and only some great defensive work kept them out as the Creggs girls held out for the win.
Well done to the Creggs U-18 girls who defeated Tuam-Oughterard last in the Connacht Girls’ League on Friday night.
In what proved to be a comprehensive win, Creggs scored ten tries to the opposition’s one. The try scorers were Siofra Hession, Sarah Purcell, Shauna McDermott, Nikita Cullen, and Jemima Adams Verling.
The result secures Creggs a home league semi-final in January. Well done to the girls on their continued good run.
The Creggs U-16 boys travelled to Sligo for their final league game.
In a game that was played in horrendous conditions, the home team got off to a good start playing with the wind. They got over the line on three occasions in the opening half to lead 21-0.
As much as Creggs tried in the second half, they were unable to score, and Sligo scored a try late on to prevail by 26-0.
The next game for Creggs will be the league semi-final, which will take place around January 13th/14th.
The Creggs U-17 boys were defeated 10-27 by Corinthians in their final league game on Sunday.
This Creggs team just can’t seem to get a break with three more players sustaining injuries during the week.
The home side started well and put Corinthians under pressure in the early phases, but they knocked on and gave away a scrum. Then the referee alleged that Creggs pushed past the 1.5 metres and handed a penalty to the opposition.
Gallant defence by Creggs gave way to an unconverted try after seven minutes. A great restart saw Luke Kilcommons gathering the ball and driving at the Corinthians defence. When Corinthians infringed in the ruck, Ger Healy stepped up and reduced the deficit to two points.
Both teams played a tight game in the conditions but one or two missed tackles saw the pacey Corinthians centre breach the Creggs line for another unconverted try in the 26th minute.
After 30 minutes, Creggs infringed and gave away a penalty, which was slotted over by Corinthians. Creggs played the rest of the first half in the Corinthians half but were unable to reduce the score, leaving the half-time score Creggs 3, Corinthians 13.
Creggs started the second half in a similar fashion to how they finished the first but Corinthians rucked well. Creggs’ lineout held their own but the strong wind played havoc with two clearance kicks and the home team subsequently found themselves defending. They managed to keep the opposition from scoring until five minutes into the second half when an overlap saw the Corinthians winger get in for a try in the corner, which was followed by a conversion.
Creggs responded well when a turnover tackle by captain Michael Kelly released Luke Kilcommons who kicked the ball forward, regathered and scored under the posts. The conversion was duly slotted by Ger Healy.
Creggs’ tails were up but a few isolated forward runs saw them losing ground by giving away numerous penalties for holding on the ground. There were ten minutes left when a yellow card was given to the Creggs prop. As a result, the pack ran out of steam and eventually gave away a converted try, which left the final score 27-10 to Corinthians.
It was a hard loss to take from a Creggs perspective but, overall, the score did not reflect the trajectory of the contest. This team are gaining momentum, even with the amount of injuries they have sustained since the start of the season.
Well done team — keep at it.
The club lotto jackpot was not won and is now currently at €11,200. Support would be appreciated. Congratulations to last week’s lucky pick winner, John Donohoe.
