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Connemara 0 – Sligo 3      10th Feb. 2008 Under 18′s

Connemara U18’s played Sligo on the 10/02/08 in their penultimate league game.
From the start it became obvious that this would be a forwards game. The Sligo outfit started well putting the Connemara pack under pressure at the breakdown. That pressure yielded a penalty for Sligo on 15 minutes which was converted into a strong wind.
After the first 20 minutes the Connemara forwards started to find their feet. Using the strong breeze some good kicking from Chris Casey and David McDonagh took us to good positions,  but some very hard defending by the Sligo back row  kept us out. 
With the score 3-0  at half time   and facing a strong breeze , the Connemara forwards showed their abilities  with a superb ,controlled display.  The rucking and mauling was first class and but for a few basic errors would have converted that dominance into scores.  In fact the referee didn’t allow what seemed to be a good score by replacement Ian McDonagh mid way through the half.
Try as we might Sligo held on for the win.
The last league game for the u18 is away to Castlebar on the 17th Feb.  A must win game.
The first round on the cup is on 24 Feb at home against Ballyhaunis. The turn-out for the Sligo game was excellent and we hope that the remaining training sessions and games are well supported. (R. King)

Connemara 5 – Corinthians 0   25th Nov. 2007 –  Under 18′s

The under 18 team finally got their season under way with a hard earned 5-0 victory over Corinthians at the Monastery field on Sunday Nov. 25th. The front row of PJ Kane , Peter Jarmin and Shane McDonagh along with the second row of Patrick Moran and Ronan Keane played fast hard rugby, never allowing their opposite number settle into the match. The Connemara back row of Ian McDonagh, Conor O’Malley and no. 8 Cathal King ran themselves ragged with some fierce hits around the rucks, especially at the start of the second half  when the Connemara line was under fierce pressure. The half backs of Stephen Smyth and Jack Vaughan were outstanding with some very well placed kicks and breaks at crucial times during the game. A clever kick by Jack Vaughan on 46 minutes provided the break that Connemara wanted. The kick was followed up by the out half and when the ball was won it was fed to Conor o Malley who floated the ball to our no.14, Fiachra Coyne, who wasn’t going to be caught for pace as he made the corner  for the decisive score. The conversion was just wide. David McDonagh and Chris Casey were outstanding in the centre. Their tackling and tactical kicking was excellent, always keeping our forwards on the front foot. No. 11- Sullivan Marfiossa, no.14  Fiachra Coyne and new boy no.15 Conor Carey were superb in defence. Johnny Bolger , who was nursing an injury, came on in the second half  and gave his all. Without a doubt the fire and passion displayed by such a young team on Sunday was a joy to watch. It’s hoped that this victory will encourage the u18’s players in the area to start to come to training - Thursdays at 7pm.
Well done to all – a fantastic performance.
(R. King)

 U16 cup  Ballinasloe 10 Connemara 22    2nd March 2008
We started poorly when conceding a very soft try after 3 mins. We knuckled down and after several good phases of play we were awarded a penalty just outside their 22. Shane Sweeney converted to make the score 5-3 to them. The rest of the half was an intense battle between the two packs with their pack just shading it. Some great line kicking by Shane and good breaks by Jack Vaughan, Cathal Molloy, John Mannion and Eoghan Kilkenny kept us in it. Just before half time we turned ball over from a ruck and Derek Heanue hared off down the blindside to score a fabulous individual try from 40 yards out all the way under the posts. Shane Sweeney converted to leave the score 10-5 at half-time.
We started the second half strongly with some good rucking by Scott Vallely, Colin Reilly and David O’Reilly. Alan O’Malley and Eugene Conroy took on some good ball. Ian McDonagh then broke from a ruck and burst over their line for a fine try. Shane missed the conversion to leave the score 15-5 in our favour. Our lads relaxed a bit too much at this stage, allowing Ballinasloe back into it. After giving away a succession of stupid penalties, we turned our backs on their no. 8, as he took a fast penalty. He was gone twenty yards before he brushed off the first pathetic attempt at a tackle. Three worse attempts at tackles left him through to score an unconverted try. 15-10, game on. Ballinasloe knew they were well in it but some good line breaks by Jack Vaughan and Ciaran Molloy kept them out of our half. Also, we had the strengthening breeze which Shane used very well to keep them pinned back in their own 22. Some very poor tackling led to breakouts but we held on. The ball squirted from a ruck near their line and Thomas Roche dived on it for a lucky try. Shane converted to put a gloss on the final score. Good win. Away to Monivea for the semi-final next Sunday- all support welcome!!
(F. Wood)

Under 16 Cup – 1st round  Connemara 28 – Castlebar 3    10th February 2008     

It was good to get back to winning ways after disappointing away losses to Ballinasloe (19-7) and Monivea (28-14) in the league. The lads started well with the forwards taking on some good ball and linking well with the backs. It wasn’t long before the pack powered over the Castlebar line with Ian McDonagh claiming the touchdown. Shane Sweeny converted very skillfully from near the touchline. Shortly afterwards Derek Heanue burst through for a fine try after some good continuity. After more pressure Eugene Conroy scored another try. Shane converted both tries to leave the score 21-0 at half time.
In the second half we got a bit sloppy and took the foot off the pedal a bit against what was admittedly a weak Castlebar side with only 14 men. Castlebar converted a penalty and some poor tackling could have easily led to them scoring a try. We got back into it and finished strongly with Ian scoring a good breakaway try which Shane converted. We take on Ballinasloe in the next round away- this will be a far tougher challenge in 2 weeks time. ( F. Wood)

                                    

 

 Connemara 36 – Monivea 7    8th February 2008 – Under 13′s

With great excitement the under 13 team travelled to Monivea on Friday night 08/02/08 as it was a first for many of them to play under floodlights.
Last year they were defeated by Monivea and were determined to make amends this year. We started very strongly and ran every ball at the Monivea backs and after about 5 minutes we had our first score on the board. Connemara played some lovely rugby from then on with the forwards winning a lot of ball from the rucks and the backs moving it wide at every opportunity. They managed to run up a few more tries before half time, the best one when our outside center passed out wide to the winger and then looped round to receive the return pass and had the presence of mind to cut back inside to score near the posts…… A wonderful try at any level…well done. Even though we ran up a good score there was a lot of tough defending to be done especially so in the second half. All this pressure by Monivea paid off and they scored after 15 minutes.
Another good win lads….well done.
The Connemara squad was:
Thomas Mac Donncha.
Connor Clarke.
Mikie Walsh.
Jack Shannon.
Thomas Joyce.
Mark Gavin.
Cathal Heanue.
Stiofán Mac Donncha.
Stephen McDonagh.
Oisin Heffernan.
Sean Coohill.
Emmet Madden.
Patrick King.
T. J. Berry.
Roddy O’Donnell.
James M. O’Toole.
Cian Laffey.
Kevin Ryan.
James P. O’Toole.
Jack Moran.
Alan Conroy.
Christopher Joyce.

A special thank you to Peter Brittain complete with arm in a cast for coming along to help out with the first aid and demanding all evening  (to no avail) to be allowed  play .Thanks PB, looking forward to having you back in action. Thank you also to the two under 11 players Darren Burke and Mathew Gavin for coming along. A very special thank you to parents Tina Shannon and Helen Laffey for giving up their Friday night to travel on the bus with the team.  

(S. Coyne)

Connemara V Corinthians  15th December 2007 – Under 13′s

The Under 13′s played Corinthians on Saturday Dec 15th. Once again this match was played at the Clifden GAA field and Connemara RFC are very grateful for this facility. This was a very hard fought game and Corithians went 7 – 0 ahead after 15 minutes. The Connemara boys  were not winning enough ball in the rucks  but defended every attack from Corinthians.  There was a lot of hard talking  to the Connemara team at half time but no changes were possible as we only had 15 players on the day. We started the second half with more determination and the forwards began to win more ball and after 10 minutes this paid off with us scoring a try in the corner…..score 7 – 5. Corinthians quickly came back at us and also scored in the corner after some poor tackling by Connemara….12 – 5. The pressure was now on and with 10 minutes left we scored again…. Corinthians 12, Connemara 10. There was still a lot of work to be done and we kept on attacking  the Corinthians line but were kept out  every time by some great defending. Legs and bodies were  getting tired but the will to win was still there  and we managed to score twice in the last 5 minutes. Final score Connemara 24, Corinthians 12.
This was another great win for the Under 13s, they have won all their matches so far. But we must get more players out training and especially turn up on match days. If a player is unavailable they should let their coach know as it is unfair to the entire squad otherwise.
I would like to wish all the players and their families a Happy Christmas and I will see you all in 2008.
 
(S Coyne)