Creggs 21- Dunmore 17

Creggs 1st team took on Dunmore in their league match in Creggs on Saturday evening. In tough wet and windy conditions the crowds arrived to fill the stand where both sets of supporters added to the excitement. Creggs received the kick off and made ground out wide early on and Mark Purcell made a great break after 4 minutes to score Creggs first try under the posts making the conversion simple for his brother Shane. Creggs were playing into the wind and made some great breaks but their lineout tally was low losing the first four, giving Dunmore possession and ground on the pitch. After 20 minutes Dunmore scored in the right corner and the conversion was missed. Leading 7-5 with only minutes to half time a clearance kick from Mark Purcell was gathered outside the Creggs 22 brilliantly by Tom Fetherston who sprinted into the Dunmore 22 which finished with a great try. Controversy arose after the referee had given the try when the Dunmore linesman flagged for a foot in touch. ( see photo attached) As there is no TMO at this level and after some discussion with the linesman the referee had to take the linesman’s view and disallowed the try.

The second half kick off by Creggs was followed up well by the pack with Danny Arnold making a superb tackle on their ball carrier who held onto the ball giving Creggs a penalty on the 10 metre line. Shane Purcell slotted this kick to now bring the lead to 10-5. Some huge physical hits were being made in the next quarter of the game resulting to injuries on both sides. Creggs were fortunate to have an excellent bench which were used in full and all subs played a huge part in this win. 20 minutes into the second half , having given away a number of penalties Dunmore scored a try from a penalty 5 metres out. This was converted bring it to a 1 point game. 13-12. Creggs went into a new mode after the kick off and chased down their attackers making huge tackles. having attacked their line with forward moves from 5 metres out on a number of occasions the ball was spread wide by a superb Ronan Dowd cross field kick to winger Fetherston who kept the ball in play and Ciaran Purcell followed up scoring Creggs second try. This conversion was missed from the touchline leaving the home side 18-12 ahead. Creggs fitness showed in their defence and having made some great breaks from their own 22 won a number of penalties from Dunmore high tackles. Having kicked well into the Dunmore 22 with five minutes remaining , Creggs won another penalty which was scored by Shane Purcell ( see photo of ball crossing over the posts) bringing the gap to 9 points. Dunmore were not finished and pushed hard in the remaining few minutes eventually scoring a try on full time. The conversion being missed was the last move of the game. Creggs have two matches left in the league versus Buccaneers and Castlebar.

Team : Sean Og Higgins, Danny Arnold, Eoghan Cahill, Aidan Leech, Brian Donoghoe, Lee Kilcoyne, Ciaran Purcell, Brian Diffley (Capt), Mark Dowd, Shane Purcell, Tom Fetherston, Eoghan Coyle, Mark Purcell, David Gacquin, Ronan Dowd, Tom Farrell, Peter Lohan, Ronan Cahill, John Martin, Tommy Devine, Ian Whittington.