A large number of Roundstone supporters are travelling to Cork for our game against Sunday’s Well on the first Saturday in December. They’re always very loyal followers. Johnny Sheehan, a Garryowen man, and his fellow Roundstone people, are organising a big Penalty Shoot in the tourist village on New Years Day. There will be a floating piece of pitch with goalposts in the harbour, and all players, coaches, dossers, veterans, ladies and gents are asked to attend and participate. There will be lots of rugby balls available and they will safely retrieved by the McDonagh brothers in their own currach. John and Carole Sheridan, Mary McDonagh and her family, the Burke family, Ferrons family, Keaney family, Joe King and Mary King, Nicholas Griffin, hopefully Joe Creane, Vinny Creane, Paddy Joe King, Hugh O’Donnell and many friends of whom I’m sure we’ve forgotten will be in attendance.
See you all on New Year’s Day, starting at 2.30pm.

Rugby boots, Tennis shoes, shoes, basketball shoes, wedding shoes, hobnails, clogs, Wellingtons, high heels, mini skirts, hot pants, pantaloons, trousers, tracksuits, dress suits, tuxedos, night dresses, pyjamas, see through’s, bell bottoms, knickers are all acceptable wear in the competition.

Matt O’Sullivan

Connemara-55-21-Dunmore

The supporters who turned out at the Monastery Field on Sunday to watch the Nigel Murray trained under 15 side were treated to a feast of great rugby. In this vital Connacht League game the home team turned out in single file in a very determined way and got into positive mode straight from the kick off, scoring a number of brilliant tries. This was their sixth league win on the trot, they have now won their U15 south division and have a home game in the semi final in mid December.
One also has to credit the Dunmore players, who had some outstanding footballers on view, and scored three great tries. For Connemara, Dylan O’Neill at 8, Henry O’Toole at 9 and Brendan Regan at 12, Emmanuel at 14, and the King brothers, Dillon & Kevin, were all outstanding among the 20 Connemara players who took the field at various stages.
Please god Connemara will advance to the final, which will be played in early January. Also thanks to Henry O’Toole Snr who coached the team when Nigel was ill.
This Connemara U15 team is an inspiration to all our teams and coaches from underage to senior level and also to our very creditable youth lady players.

Matt O’Sullivan

Connemara RFC U15 Team 2011-12

Highfield 35 – Connemara 16

Connemara entered Saturday’s game at Highfield knowing it would be a tough encounter against the Cork team, and they were right. Highfield bullied Connemara at times, particularly with their rolling mauls which resulted in two tries. Highfield had a massive pack and they utilised to its full extent.
Although Highfield were deserved winners, Connemara will feel the margin of defeat didn’t reflect their efforts. Indeed, despite Highfields domination up front, Connemara had numerous chances to score, and would have had it not been for resilient Highfield defending. Highfield took the lead early in the game. After a line out Highfield opted for a rolling maul and the sheer size of their pack surged over the line for 5-0. It was to stay at 5-0, due to strong swirling winds their out half was unsuccessful with his conversion attempt. Connemara’s out-half Sean Joyce had no such problems as he scored all Connemara’s 16 points, including a try after a jinking run. Highfield’s second was almost a carbon copy of their first, another line out resulted in a rolling maul and they again powered over for 10-0, this time their conversion was successful to make it 12-0. Connemara responded well and were soon over for a try of their own. Some incisive back play saw Sean Joyce evade several tackles and run in under the posts. He converted the resultant conversion for 12-7.
At 12-7 Connemara were firmly in the game, but it wasn’t long until Highfield crossed again. For once it wasn’t their forwards, after some good Highfield passing and poor Connemara tackling Highfields outside centre ran in unopposed to make it 17-7. It was a simple conversion for their out-half who dually made it 19-7.
Connemara did threaten a few more times in the first half, particularly through David McDonagh, but Highfield held out to keep the score at 19-7 at half time.
Connemara started the second half much better and laid siege to the Highfield line, Connemara came close on a number of occasions, but lacked the cutting edge on the day. They rewarded for their pressure with three second half penalties, all of which Sean Joyce converted. The penalties however were a mere consolation as Highfield secured their fourth try of the game late on. It a counter attacking move Highfield turned over Connemara ball and sent their winger over in the corner for their first bonus point of the season. Connemara were close to a deserved try at the death, but were once again off the mark.
Highfield deserved their victory, but Connemara will feel that on another day it could have been much different.

 John O’Sullivan

Ballyhaunis 24-14 Connemara

Connemara should have won this Junior League at the Monastery Field on Sunday. Bernard Keaney at out half was very accurate with three successful penalties. His fourth effort rebounded off the left upright but nobody was following up.
Bernard also scored the only try for the home side, and despite being in his mid thirties was the fittest and hungriest man on the field. Lack of fitness and playing together has meant Connemara have lost winnable games, and should have won all of them. Distance from home is a big impediment regarding training, many are attending college and some have summer jobs, so it’s hard to have time to commit to training in early July. Most teams try to start training early in the summer, and the AGM is a chance to review the past season and to plan and look forward to the new one. Connemara are honoured to be among the elite of senior clubs in Ireland, and we have a huge following on our website, Facebook and have more followers on Twitter than any other senior club in the country. Our Junior side and Under 17’s and 19’s should be seen as our development unit, and from them should come a very talented Senior side. We have to mention a few great players like, Kevin Barry, Colin Reilly, Dean Elcock, Damian Joyce, Cathal King, Chris Heneghan, Alan McCann and Patrick King.
We have top class coaches in place and the money spent will be of better value if some extra players attended the coaching sessions. Gerry King must be pulling his hair out at the feeble response to training. Gerard has been serving school and club for close to forty years. Poor Mark Foyle, who is doing trojan work and is totally committed has lost some of his thatch-no doubt from stress at seeing which some might see as a poor response at his great efforts as playing football committee chairman.

 Matt O’Sullivan

Connemara Calendar Launch

Connemara’s first rugby calendar was launched at the Station House Clifden on Saturday evening 5th November, after the Armagh game. The official duty was carried out by our president Mr. Des Fogerty. The club is in existence for over thirty seven years and various players posed for some “interesting” pictures. There are also team shots, playing moments etc. The first calendar was auctioned by semi-retired auctioneer Connemara RFC Vice-President Matt O’Sullivan and was bought by former President John Sheridan and his wife Carole. The Armagh supporters and players were in attendance, and to celebrate the event wing forward kiwi Richie Byrne did the Haka.
The club is very grateful to all who sponsored the issue, all the posers, all who bought it and will buy it, a special thanks goes to photographer, Regina Pryce, Secretary Irene King, P.R.O Sinead O’Sullivan, designer Julian Matz, Rory O’Toole from Off The Square restaurant, and everyone else who assisted in the process. Hopefully it’ll be a decent momento and raise badly needed funds.

Matt O’Sullivan

Well done P.J.

A sincere thanks to P.J. Heffernan for giving many days of his time without charge to Connemara R.F.C this past few weeks. He had great help from his own family and the Keogh family, Liam Kevin and Alan.
The steel poles carrying lights which lit up the pitch had all fallen down and were in a mess. P.J. and his team recycled all of these eight lights, erected them, balanced them and made them very secure. He also put badly needed walkways on both sides of the pitch as well as the Ballyconneely road end. The sand pitch and badly needed area’s of drainage were redone, and Liam Keogh deserves great credit here. The whole tone of the arena is vastly improved and the disastrous looking flag poles which were an embarrassment are now recycled and painted. Thanks an awful lot to P.J. and family and the Keogh family.

Matt O’Sullivan

They say luck eventually evens itself out and Connemara will be well aware of this after Saturdays 35-20 win over City of Armagh. Everything went against Connemara in their previous fixture, so lady luck was due to smile on Connemara.
Connemara started the game under the cosh as Armagh threw the kitchen sink at the Connemara defensive line, but Connemara remained resilient and patient. Connemara’s resilience and patience paid off as they broke the deadlock through Richard Bourke. Bourke showed both pace and awareness as he intercepted an Armagh pass on the half way line before galloping over for his third try in two home games. Whilst Armagh were generally in the ascendancy, Connemara did have their moments too and were rewarded with a try after some good team play saw Kevin Ward bulldoze over from a short distance. Sean Joyce was successful with both conversions and it was another accomplished performance from the Clifden fly half.
Connemara may have had a two try cushion, but it was never a comfortable lead, and Armagh struck next to diminish Connemara’s comfort zone. Some neat backs play saw Armagh’s winger go over in the corner for a well deserved try, fortunately for Connemara their fly half was unsuccessful with his conversion, Armagh weren’t to know it then but placed kicks would ultimately be their downfall in this game.
Throughout this season flanker Barry Gibbons has been noted for his industrious displays and he wasn’t to disappoint on Saturday afternoon, as Armagh were pinned in the corner, Gibbons chased and blocked down their attempted kick, the ball then fell to returning flanker Richie Byrne who gratefully crossed the line for Connemara’s third of the half. Sean Joyce was agonisingly close with the conversion as it crashed off the up-right. Armagh were dominant in terms of territory and possession, while it didn’t translate on the scoreboard, it certainly did on the penalty count. Connemara conceded upward of 20 penalties throughout the game, and a team with a more competent kicker would have slotted many of these, instead Armagh kept kicking for touch and on one occasion were rewarded for it. An Armagh line out became a rolling maul which powered its way over Connemara’s line for their second of the game.
Connemara improved in the second half and had more of the ball, after some increasing Connemara pressure fly half Sean Joyce slotted over a drop goal to stretch Connemara’s lead. Connemara were again fortunate for their final try of the game, centre Benny Bester was alert and once again Connemara intercepted an Armagh pass to go in under the posts. With the fourth try secured Connemara gained a second consecutive home bonus point. Armagh would go on to add two more unconverted tries but Connemara’s lead was then unassailable. The final whistle blew to great acclaim, Connemara’s final home game of 2011 ended with victory and there was entertainment go leor. It wasn’t vintage Connemara, but they say great sides win when they play under par and Connemara were certainly under par on Saturday, winning like this shows how much we’ve progressed under the tutelage of Peter Bracken.

Despite Saturday being another great home victory by Connemara, the game was somewhat marred by the injury to Benny Bester. Everyone at Connemara R.F.C. wishes him a speedy recovery.

John O’Sullivan

Connemara Team:

1: Alex Lee
2: Alan Pryce
3: Emmet Ferrons
4: Bernard Keaney
5: Kevin Keogh
6: Barry Gibbons
7: Richie Byrne
8: Kevin Ward
9: David Keogh
10: Sean Joyce
11: Richard Bourke
12: Paddy Madden
13: Benny Bester
14: David McDonagh
15: Alan Keogh

Replacements:
Jerome Harimate
James Mannion
Eugene Conroy
Tomas King

Some photo’s of our U13′s who had some great fun sliding around the pitch in Ballina.

It was a case of all that could go wrong for Connemara did go wrong for Connemara in Nenagh on Saturday last. Looking in retrospect it’s clear that it would have been very difficult for Connemara to match the level of performance shown against Ards. But no one expected the margin of defeat to be so large, credit must go to Nenagh, who mercilessly punished Connemara’s mistakes.
Nenagh started the game in whirlwind fashion, registering a try after barely three minutes. Some neat back play saw Nenagh take advantage of an overlap and charge home for the games opener, and fly half Dan Fogarty dually added to extra’s to make it 7-0. There was a ferocious cross wind blowing throughout the game which made kicking conditions extremely difficult, nevertheless Connemara fly half Sean Joyce was extremely close with three first half efforts, as the kicks drifted inches wide one began to think it just wasn’t Connemara’s day. Connemara spent big periods of the first half on the Nenagh line but just couldn’t force their way over due to some resolute Nenagh defending. Connemara lacked their usual penetration on Saturday, this was polar opposite to Nenagh who exploited every opportunity. The first half finished 17-3 to Nenagh. Connemara started the second half much better and broke the line on various occasions through winger David McDonagh and full back Alan Keogh, unfortunately support arrived a second too late each time and the attacks petered out to nothing. Connemara consistently attacked Nenagh’s line, and were eventually rewarded when Sean Joyce crossed after a great run by Alan Keogh.
Just when Connemara were building some momentum Nenagh hit again. It was a feature of Nenagh’s game; soaking up pressure before hitting with devastating effect.
It was a game of many penalties and Nenagh out half Dan Fogarty had the game of his life, slotting 100% of his kicks, which were all given due to unusual Connemara ill-discipline. Despite Nenagh’s lead being unusable Connemara battled gallantly and were rewarded when winger David McDonagh crossed for a well deserved try.
Nenagh made sure of a bonus point late on when they crossed after some poor Connemara tackling to take the score to 40-15. Connemara left with nothing but they can take some positives from the game, Martin Flaherty & Bernard Keaney performed well in place of injured duo David McHugh and Richie Byrne. Connemara will also be pleased with their two tries, meaning they have scored at least two tries in every game this season, but it could have been much more on the day.

John O’Sullivan

Connemara Team:
1: Eugene Conroy
2: Alan Pryce
3: Emmet Ferrons
4: Kevin Keogh
5: Martin Faherty
6: Barry Gibbons
7: Bernard Keaney
8: Kevin Ward
9: David Keogh
10: Sean Joyce
11: Richard Bourke
12: Paddy Madden
13: Benny Bester
14: Jerome Harimate
15: Alan Keogh

Replacements:
James Mannion
Jack Vaughan
David McDonagh
Alex Lee

Connemara produced a scintillating display of attacking rugby which matched the unseasonably hot October weather on Saturday. Connemara were instantly on the front foot and had a line out in an attacking position, sadly the ball was fumbled by a Connemara hand at the vital moment and the attack came to nothing. However, it didn’t take Connemara long to open their try scoring account, with winger Richard Bourke showing searing pace before crossing for his first of the season and Connemara’s first of the game. Sean Joyce converted the resulting conversion from an acute angle, it was a much improved day with the boot for the Clifden man. Connemara’s next try came soon after, no doubt to the delight of backs coach Cory Brown, Connemara produced an incisive backs move which saw South African centre Benny Bester dive over for his second try in as many games. Credit must go to an injury ravaged Ards side who fought gallantly and managed to score two first half tries through former Ulster centre Scott Young. High scoring games are a feature of Connemara’s games this season. It rained tries once more on Saturday afternoon with ten in total.
Even the forwards got in on the act, with second row David McHugh crossing after a barnstorming run, his first try of the league campaign. One would run out of superlatives to describe Connemara’s scrum which was once again utterly dominant. And it was a scrum that provided Connemara with the platform for their bonus point fourth try of the first half. Winger Richard Bourke received the ball no more than 10 yards from the line and showed good composure to finish for his second and Connemara’s fourth of the first half. A bonus point secured in the first half much to the delight of the home support. The second half started in much the same fashion with Connemara intent on laying siege to the Ards line. Ards remained resilient in defence and crossed for a try of their own after a good pick and go from their pack. It didn’t take Connemara long to respond with full back Alan Keogh capping another solid performance at full back with a fine try after a virtuoso run, not dissimilar to his try the previous week against Boyne. Not satisfied with five tries Connemara continued to press and were rewarded for their intensity when Paddy Madden barrelled over for a richly deserved try.
David Keogh completed the scoring when he crossed with the Ards defensive line in tatters. The final whistle blew to a great roar from the home contingent, seven tries and fantastic entertainment from Connemara. Connemara’s next two fixtures see them travel to Sligo in the cup on Saturday next and on to Nenagh Ormond in the league on Saturday fortnight.
Being asked to pick Saturday’s man of the match was an arduous task with the entire team playing very well. But in the end one would have to pomp for Kevin Keogh. Keogh excelled in all facets of his game, particularly in the air where he claimed the majority of ball of both sides restarts.

Connemara Team

1: Eugene Conroy
2: Alan Pryce
3: Emmet Ferrons
4: David McHugh
5: Kevin Keogh
6: Barry Gibbons
7: Richie Byrne
8: Kevin Ward
9: David Keogh
10: Sean Joyce
11: Richard Bourke
12 Paddy Madden
13 Benny Bester
14: David McDonagh
15: Alan Keogh

Replacements:
Jerome Harimate
Alex Lee
Jack Vaughan
James Mannion
Martin Faherty

We at Connemara R.F.C. would like to wish a speedy recovery to Ards hooker Conor Piper who was unfortunately injured during Saturday’s game.

John O’Sullivan