BUCCANEERS 17 SLIGO 21
A youthful Buccaneers side pushed Sligo all the way in the opening round of the Bank of Ireland Connacht Senior League played in front of a good attendance under the Dubarry Park floodlights on Friday night. The visitors, fielding a more settled and seasoned squad, edged the hosts 21-17 after a lively and entertaining contest.
Sligo completed a Connacht double last season with a comfortable Cup final win over the Pirates and they lined out with two thirds of that side plus a handful of new additions. Meanwhile, the midlanders who have had a significant change in personnel fielded just five from that defeat with Frankie Hopkins being their only back to feature from that game. Nevertheless, their younger and slighter players played some lovely rugby but a lack of grunt plus an intercept try were the deciding factors in this encounter.
The pitch was in excellent state and there was no rain for the two hours game time so conditions were near ideal. Buccs made all the early running and a late unpunished tackle on Harry Hughes after he chipped ahead denied the home side’s first scoring opportunity after 8 minutes. It took the north-westerners over a quarter of an hour to get to the home 22 but they made it pay. Following a lineout on the right, the ball was moved to Fintan Crawley and the No.8 marked his debut when running through for a try converted by Euan Brown to lead 7-0 totally against the run of play.
Buccs replied swiftly, going through some sustained phases which were finished off by skipper Hopkins near the uprights for a 22nd minute try converted by Gearoid McDonald. The referee had played advantage after a high tackle in this move but five minutes later he yellow-carded James O’Hehir for a similar offence on Cathal Walsh and McDonald’s penalty gave the Shannonsiders a 10-7 advantage that they held at the premature arrival of the interval.
Walsh sustained a dead leg and was replaced at the break by Luke Balsiger. Sligo began the second half with a burst of energy and Jensen Nagle did well to win the race to deny Louis McVitty capitalising on his chip over the cover. But they regained the lead seven minutes into the second period and, following a number of penalties to touch at The Bounty corner, the abrasive O’Hehir was driven over for a try converted by Brown.
The Pirates continued to play the more attractive rugby but an intercept in midfield gave possession to Archie MacLean and the towering lock romped through to touchdown near the posts. Brown’s third successful conversion extended the visitors lead to 21-10 with half an hour remaining.
A poorly judged tackle by Enda Gavin on Orrin Burgess caused a brief flare-up and earned the Sligo substitute his team’s second sin-binning. Buccs continued to battle and were rewarded for their sustained endeavours when Nagle countered from his own half and the fullback sent Ross Murphy-Sweeney racing away. The centre showed commendable desire to out-manoeuvre a number of tackles to power in for a final move try, converted by McDonald, that secured a precious bonus point for the homesters that was the least they deserved.
McDonald, Buccs only new recruit on view, was an assuring and aware presence at flyhalf alongside Hopkins who excelled throughout. Burgess also caught the eye in the backline while Sam Fogarty, James Kelly and Oisin Dolan led the forwards battle. Overall, a positive display from the youthful Pirates who put it up to the dual champions. More bulk is needed in the pack and lineouts were inconsistent but, with more players due back shortly, the signs were nevertheless encouraging.
BUCCANEERS:- J.Nagle; H.Hughes, R.Murphy-Sweeney, R.Teape, O.Burgess; G.McDonald, F.Hopkins (captain); J.Kelly, C.Morrissey, D.Bolger; F.Galvin, S.Fogarty; O.Dolan, C.Walsh and J.Crampton. Replacements:- L.Balsiger (for Walsh, h/t, inj.), R.O’Meara (for Crampton, 57 mins), C.Daly (for Bolger, 57 mins), H.Balsiger (for Hughes, 69 mins), J.Scouler (for Galvin, 69 mins), R.Cahill, C.Byrne and C.Rooney-Digan.
SLIGO:- E.Norris; L.McVitty, F.Bamber, W.Whelan, C.Creaven; E.Brown, B.Cunningham; K.Wojtkowicz, M.Earley (captain), T.Gormley; C.Cummins, A.MacLean; A.Bamber, J.O’Hehir and F.Crawley. Replacements:- E.Ryan (for A.Bamber, h/t), A.Healy (for Gormley, 50 mins), E.Gavin (for McVitty, 50 mins), D.Byrne (for Norris, 50 mins), G.Duffy (for Cummins, 63 mins), L.Timms (for Wojtkowicz, 69 mins), J.Fleming (for Creaven, 69 mins) and C.Moore.
Referee:- Shane Touhey (Connacht).
