BUCCANEERS 24 CREGGS 7
On Saturday Buccaneers opened their Connacht U-16 Cup campaign against neighbours Creggs who had held the upper hand in recent meetings. Buccs started swiftly and were soon rewarded with a superb individual try by Darragh Murray which emanated from a missed touch-finder. Another try followed from the returning Ryan Hughes who was put away down the left wing by some good handling and he showed great pace and agility to run 60 metres and score near the posts.
That was it for the first half but Buccs went hard at their opponents and after continued pressure John Finnan dived over to leave the score at 19-0. The second half became scrappy in the tough slippery conditions. Creggs scored a consolation try before Buccs wrapped it up after more good hands put Callum McCormack over and confirm a 24-7 victory for the Athlonians.
BUCCANEERS:- T Herron, C McCormack, P Sunny, S O’Hara, A Murphy, N Robinson, M Fallon, B Rourke, S Lowe, E Carr, R Hughes, D Murray, J Finnan, A Jacobo, C Movill, C Doran, C Sylla, C O’Donoghue, A Costello, H Lowe, D Coffey, R O’Connor and M Doolan.
BUCCANEERS 48 BALLINA 0
Buccaneers U-14 boys hosted a spirited Ballina side in their third group match of the Connacht Cup on Sunday. The home side dominated the first half and led by 19 points to no score at the break thanks to a hat-trick of tries from Will Browne and two conversions from Jack Costello. Buccaneers continued their good form in the second half and produced some flowing moves to add 5 further tries through Owen Kelly, Tomi Akinfaye, Aaron Costello and two more by Will Browne. Jack Costello and Corey Kelly added a conversion apiece to leave the final scoreline as Buccaneers 48 Ballina 0. Well done to all the squad and coaches. Next up is an away trip to Ballinrobe in a few weeks.
BUCCANEERS:- Owen Kelly, Harry Dolan, Jack Monaghan, Conor Burke, Tadhg Rohan, Jordan Murray, Tomi Akinfaye, Aaron Costello, Joe Hurley, Jack Costello, Cian Kilcommins, Robert Connor, Will Browne, Niall Donohue, Donnacha O’ Sullivan, Tomas Mulchrone, Rian McKenna, Luke Clancy, Fearghal Kelly, Marcus O’Dwyer, Oisin Daly, Corey Kelly, Jason Heneghan and Oisin Gannon.
BUCCANEERS 35 SLIGO 24
BUCCANEERS got off to a flying start in their Bank of Ireland Connacht U-17 Cup match against a strong Sligo side at busy Dubarry Park on Sunday. But their arch rivals from the North-West clawed their way back into the contest to set up a very tight finish in a cracking encounter. Buccs had to dig deep with all players contributing to this win over a team that will surely also be in the hunt for the silverware.
Philip Finnan and Alex Connor notched a brace of tries each as Buccs outscored the visitors by 5 tries to 4. Andrew Cotton touched down too and also converted all five tries as the Pirates got over the line.
BUCCANEERS:- A.Cotton; A.Connor, P.Finnan, O.O’Donoghue, O.Egan; D.Glennon, H.McGowan; D.Cleary, D.Dullea, C.West; E.O’Sullivan, P.Bourke; J.Kelly, H.Hannon and R.Colleran. Replacements:- A.Brown, T.Coleman, J.Okegbenro, S.Nugent, E.Dunning, N.Duffy, J.Paul, L.Leshona and A.Milik.
SLIGO:- A.Kenny; J.Kiernan, H.Og Arnold, D.Allen, C.Deery; J.P.Flanagan, G.Gambi-Whelan; D.Fahey, A.N.Jimenez, B.Irwin; E.Ezema, O.McNamara; F.Kavanagh-Beirne, R.Galvan and C.Moffatt. Replacements:- C.Fayne, T.O’Rourke, G.McGowan, J.Kells, H.Lewis, S.Duffy, R.Colreavy, B.Filan and B.Henry.
Referee:- Jon Hunt (Connacht).
Buccaneers U-13’s lost 19-5 at Ballinasloe. The lads played really well and the scoreboard at the end didn’t reflect how tightly matched it was. Cillian Coughlan scored Buccs try.
Buccaneers U-18.5 side recorded a 35-12 friendly win over Newbridge.
Corinthians got the better of Buccaneers U-18 Girls in the Connacht Cup, winning 27-15 despite great determination shown by our girls who fought to the end.
WHAT A WEEKEND FOR BUCCANEERS MINIS!
On Saturday, our U-11 boys took part in the Connacht Blitz held at Creggs RFC, showing great skill and teamwork! Meanwhile, our U-12 girls proudly represented the club at the Connacht v Benetton halftime show—what a proud moment! And while that was happening, our U-9s had a fun-filled trip, heading to the Aviva Stadium to watch Leinster v Cardiff—future rugby stars in the making!
Sunday was just as busy, with our Minis squad taking part in a fantastic photoshoot fundraiser—huge thanks to County Photos for their support and excellent work! Meanwhile, our U-10 and U-12 girls rolled up their sleeves to raise funds for their Fota Wildlife Park trip with a super sudsy carwash!
A massive THANK YOU to all coaches, parents, and supporters—our Buccaneers family is amazing!
