ADULT RUGBY

Creggs bow out narrowly of All-Ireland Junior Cup

Creggs RFC Firsts 8, Kilfeacle & District RFC 9.

Creggs First team took on the reigning Energia All-Ireland Junior Cup champions Kilfeacle & District last Saturday in front of good size crowd in Creggs.
In testing weather, this last 16 game proved to be a tough encounter with some great skills on display. Just one try, and that was credited to Creggs Kevin Gavin after just seven minutes into the game.
There was drama right to the end after Willie Staunton kicked his third penalty to steal a successful start to the West Tipperary team’s title defence. They needed Staunton’s three penalties (two in the closing stages) to get past Creggs in a hard-fought 9-8 win.
Creggs went very close to scoring tries on a number of occasions, including being held up on one occasion. The young Creggs team were probably the better team on the day and will count this one as a big win that got away. A couple of doubtful referee decisions at key times went against them.
Overall, Creggs proved they can live with the best and as they bow out of the All-Ireland Junior Cup, they can focus fully on the three domestic competitions in Connacht.
This Sunday, the Creggs First team play Monivea in the Connacht J1 League in Creggs at 2.30 on Sunday.

A tale of two scrum halves

Congratulations to Mark Dowd (left) who made his senior debut v Connemara two weeks ago and to Mark Brandon (right), who has just announced his retirement from senior rugby after great and successful service to Creggs Rugby Club.

Creggs Development lose out to Ballyhaunis RFC

Creggs RFC Development 15, Ballyhaunis RFC Firsts 26.

The Creggs Development team played their first Connacht League game last Saturday night in Creggs. With early season lower numbers and injuries to First and Development squads, a depleted Creggs team put up a very good performance v league toppers Ballyhaunis in the Connacht J1C League.
They scored two tries and there were many good performances throughout the squad, not-least from out-half Michael Holland. However, a stronger Ballyhaunis side managed four tries and eventually won by 26-15.
The Development team will get stronger with every game and will be boosted with further players returning to the squads in the coming weeks.
This Sunday, the Creggs Development team are down to play Our Ladys Boys Club in the Connacht J1C League in Galway at 2.30 on Sunday.

ADULT RUGBY TRAINING
Training continues for all First’s, Development and Under-20 players each week on Tuesdays at 8pm and Fridays at 8.15pm. New and returning players are always welcome in Creggs.

YOUTH RUGBY

YOUTH TEAMS FIXTURES

BOYS & GIRLS FIXTURES:

Next weekend there are participation friendly games arranged for certain age groups and those teams with players available can play those games which are outside their normal league games.

All dates and times to be confirmed and please keep an eye on the Creggs RFC Facebook page for updated fixtures every Friday.

YOUTH TEAMS TRAINING

GIRLS Rugby:
New Players always welcome to come along to Creggs and give it a try.

Creggs Under-14 Girls train Monday evening at 7pm.

Creggs Under-16 / Under-18 Girls train Monday evening at 8pm.

BOYS Rugby:
Creggs Under-13 Boys train next Wednesday at 7.30m.

Creggs Under-14 Boys train next Wednesday from 7 to 8.15pm in Creggs.

Creggs Under-15 Boys training continues on Thursday at 7pm.

Creggs Under-16’s / Under-17’s train every Tuesday at 7.30pm

Creggs Under-18.5’s training continues every Thursday night at 7.30pm in Creggs.

Please keep an eye on Creggs Facebook page for updates and any enquiries please contact: Dave Purcell on 087 7000547.

Creggs Under-18 Girls away draw with Ballina

Ballina RFC 12, Creggs RFC 12.

Creggs Under-18 girls had an impressive result last Saturday when drawing with a much fancied Ballina team in their Connacht League encounter away in Ballina.

Creggs were very fast out of the blocks with excellent work upfront from Roisin Maher, Ella Brady and Jemima Adams Verling early on was causing the home side some trouble. Creggs opened the scoring when a good run by Aoibhinn Murray saw her tackled but she presented the ball well and Sarah Purcell picked and beat the defence to run in from the 10 metre line. Aobha Dowd converted for a 7-0 lead.
Creggs continued to attack and Eacha Conroy, Eadaoin Walsh and Emily Murray were all doing well up front while out the backs Jennifer Morris and Rachel Gormley carried hard.
Creggs extended their lead when Sarah Purcell released Megan Donohue who carried hard and beat the defender to run in under the post, which again Eabha Dowd converted for a 14-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Ballina were now finding their feet and had some excellent carries but Creggs defended their line excellently with Gabrielle Kilcommons, Mary Anne Jordon, Caoimhe Walsh and Nadine Fitzmaurice especially good in defence, which kept Ballina scoreless at half time.
Early in the the second half Ballina continued to attack and got their reward after 7 minutes, which was converted to reduce the deficit to 14-7 for Creggs. This seemed to spur Creggs on and good work from Jean O’Boyle, Julie Ann Fahy, Michaela Gillooly and Stacey Corbally kept Creggs on the front foot and it wasn’t until three minutes from the end that Creggs were attacking but an intercept pass went astray for Ballina to run the length of the pitch to score and level the scores.
Creggs Under-16 Girls: Eabha Conroy, Nadine Fitzmaurice, Ella Brady, Roisin Maher, Eadaoin Walsh, Gabrielle Kilcommons, Jemima Adams Verling, Jean O’Boyle, Aibhinn Murray, Eabha Dowd, Sarah Purcell, Megan Donohue, Jennifer Morris, Caoimhe Walsh, Rachel Gormley, Emily Murray, Julie Ann Fahy, Stacey Cortbally, Mary Ann Jordon, Michaela Gillooly

Understrength Creggs Under-18’s just loose out

Buccaneers RFC 26, Creggs RFC 22.

An very understrength Creggs Under-18.5 team took to the field against Buccaneers last Sunday morning in their Connacht League Division 1 game. With 9 players not available for different reasons and put in a very brave performance and only lost out by a late try after leading for much of the game.

Playing against the wind in the first half it was Creggs who took the lead after some great work from Aindriu Oates, James Murray, Sean Kelly and Eoin Kelly, which saw Lee Kilcoyne go over for a try, that DJ Hession converted.
The lead was short lived as Buccaneers got in for a try, which meant the scores were level after 15 minutes. Creggs re-took the lead after a great tackle from Darragh Gilligan saw an intercept for Patrick Charles in his own half . He raced clear and ran in under the posts. DJ hession again converted for a 14-7 lead for Creggs but again this was short lived as Buccaneers got in for a try before half time to leave the half time scores level at 14-14.
An Injury to Eoin Kelly in the first half meant that Creggs limited numbers were going to be tested in the second half but fair play to the lads for giving their best.
Ciaran Purcell got a touch down that the referee failed to see and to add salt to the wound Ciaran was yellow carded shortly afterwards also, but the brave Creggs lads continued to attack and were awarded with a try from Ben Johnson after some good work from Tomas Tiernan.
A penalty from DJ Hession after sustained attacks, gave the Creggs lads a 22-14 lead.
A knock to the knee for Patrick Charles then further tested the Creggs small squad on the day.
Buccaneers were given a further lifle-line when Cormac Dolan was yellow carded near his line, and even though Josh Adams Verling put in a great tackle, Buccaneers still went over for a try to narrow the gap to 22-19 in favour of Creggs with 8 minutes remaining.
Althgough the Creggs lads were out on their feet they still mounted one more attack through Ryan Conlom and Senan Lambe was just held short. There followed a series of penalties, which saw Buccaneers come up the pitch and score to take the points.
This team showed great skill and spirt and will be boosted by the return of more players in the next couple of weeks. A very promising season lays ahead for this squad of players.
Creggs Rugby: Ben Johnson, Tomas Tiernan, Aindriu Oates, Darragh Gilligan, James Murray, Eoin Kelly, Sean Kelly, Lee Kilcoyne, Cormac Dolan, DJ Hession, Ciaran Purcell, Senan Lambe, Josh Adams Verling, Patrick Charles, Ryan Conlon.

Creggs Under-14’s and Buccaneers share the spoils

Creggs under 14 youth team had a home game against Buccaneers on Saturday last on the Green. This tie had the makings of a good game as both team had won two and lost one game each before this encounter. However in a well contested game, both team failed to score, and it ended in a 0-0 drawn match.
The Creggs Boys started well and had a lot of possession but found it tough to breakdown the Buccaneers defence. After twenty minutes Creggs got their best chance of opening the score .The Creggs forwards secured the ball in a scrum .The ball was moved through the hands out to Jack Finn on the wing who headed for the corner.This looked like a certain try but unfortunately was held up over the line. That was the closest chance any of the two teams had in the opening half.
As the second half, the visitors upped the intensity of their attacks and on a few occasions looked like breaching the Creggs defence but they stood strong and defended well. With a lot of possession the buccaneers boys seemed to be getting on top. Midway through the second-half, Buccaneers won a penalty right in front of the posts. Surprising everyone, Buccaneers decide to dip and go, this move looked to have paid off when the Buccaneers number 9 was heading over the line, but a try saving tackle dislodged the ball which was knocked on
The Creggs team gained confidence from holding out their opponents and started moving the ball around. They gained good ground and were unlucky on a couple of occasions not to score. The ref finally blew the whistle for full time, and really no team deserved to loose.

Mini Rugby

Successful MINI Rugby Blitz in Carrick-On-Shannon

All the Creggs Mini Rugby age-groups from Under-7 up to Under-12 except the Under-10s travelled to Carrick On Shannon for an Inter-Club Blitz.This was the first outing for the minis this year.
On a bright morning Creggs had good numbers and played some lovely rugby and most of all had good fun.

Creggs Under-10 played at half-time in the Aviva

The Under-10 Minis had a very special appointment. There was 25 players on their way to the Aviva Stadium to play at the Ulster v Connaught game. The boys team were drawn out to be part of the half time entertainment at the Aviva. This was a huge opportunity for the lads and all were very excited leading up to game.
On the day there were 3 other teams from Connaught – Ballinrobe, Monivea and Corinthians. Creggs played Ballinrobe for the duration of the half time break and it was very enjoyable for the players, who will talk about it for a long time.
This is a great initiative by Connaught Rugby, which they do regularly in the Sportsgrounds. it was just our luck that the home game for our Under-10 Mini’s was this week in the Aviva/ Landsdown Road. Well done to all concerned.

Beginners and all Boys and Girls new to Mini-Rugby at all age levels are always very welcome in Creggs.