Creggs big opening day a huge success

Last Saturday was probably the greatest days in the forty-five years history of Creggs Rugby Club.

From as early as 10.30am about 350 boys (from Creggs, Carrick on Shannon RFC, and Claremorris RFC plus 50 girls (from Creggs, Dunmore RFC and Claremorris RFC) gathered to play a Mini Rugby Blitz on the four playing pitches including on the full-size World Rugby Approved 4G artificial all-weather pitch, the only one in Connacht and the region. It was really an impressive sight to see so many boys and girls from six to 12 year-olds playing games and enjoying themselves in good weather.

Later on in the afternoon, several Creggs youth teams played Connacht League and friendly games, including a great performance from the Creggs Under-16 team that defeated League leaders Ballinasloe by 36-19.

The Development team and a large number of former players (The Creggs Legends), nearly fifty in total then entertained the crown on the 4G (see report below). It was a great game and reunion occasion.

The Official Opening ceremony of the three new pitches (including the 4G), the new Terrace, new Stand, and the new Electronic Score board, as well os the popular new Amenity Walkway. In typical fashion for a community proud club like Creggs RFC, eleven club members, representing the various parts of the club, cut the tape in unison, on the new 4G pitch, in front of the new stand.

Pictured are some of the excellent new facilities that were officially opened at Creggs RFC last Saturday – New Terrace and Stand, at the new 4G Pitch with the new electronic scoreboard also in the backgound.

The day on the fields was then crowned by a good Creggs Senior First team League bonus point win over Buccaneers by 38-21 (see match report here).

Finally, 250 people attended a great night at the Creggs RFC 45th. Anniversary Dinner Dance in the Abbey Hotel on Saturday night. It was a wonderful evening to finish off a magnificent day for the club.

Creggs deliver bonus point League win v Buccaneers

Connacht Junior 1A League

Creggs 38 Buccaneers 21

This game which followed on immediately from the official opening of the new facilities proved more than worthy of the occasion. Creggs served up some brilliant attacking rugby, particularly in the first half but they were pushed hard by a Buccaneers side which on the evidence of this game certainly look far too strong to continue propping up the League table.

Creggs soar high on way to good win over Buccaneers RFC in the Connacht League last Saturday evening on the new 4G pitch.

Buccaneers made it clear they meant business right from the kick-off and for the opening 10 minutes Creggs were under the cosh before Shane Purcell opened the scoring with a penalty goal.

The next 10 minutes followed a similar pattern with Buccaneers enjoying a significant advantage in terms of both territory and possession but Creggs pulled further away when Elliot Jennings broke a tackle before sending his fellow centre Shane Dowd on a searing run which took him from left field at the half way line to touch down at the right corner flag. A magnificent score was capped by a magnificent touch line conversion.

The game then reverted to Creggs soaking up further Buccaneers pressure before Dowd struck again, this time slicing through the cover from close range to score between the posts, Purcell adding the extras again.

Half an hour gone and Buccaneers were 17 points down but in no mood to surrender and when their tight-head Ruairi Byrne scored a try from a rolling mall few could argue their entitlement to the score which was converted by out half Michael Hanley.

Creggs pulled away again however six minutes later when a beautifully measured kick from Purcell was gathered by his chasing full back Ronan Dowd who scored between the posts, Purcell converting.

And on the stroke of full time Creggs secured their bonus point, Jennings again making the crucial break with Purcell prodding through a grubber kick which Kevin Gavin collected at the corner flag, Purcell adding the conversion from the left touch line to match his earlier one from the right.

A score of 31-7 at half time was very harsh on Buccaneers who in many respects had more than matched their opponents but Creggs had four converted tries from three and a half chances and their impressive clinical finishing separated the sides by such a wide margin at the interval.

To their credit Buccaneers battled on and in many respects Creggs failed to repeat the intensity in the second half, Byrne added a second try, again converted by Hanley and when Shane Dowd left the field on a questionable yellow after 21 minutes, Buccaneers capitalised with a third try from hooker Ronan Grenham, again converted by Hanley.

At this stage, they looked set to secure at least one losing bonus point but Creggs prop Tom Fleming showed some deft footwork to cross between the posts on 37 minutes, Purcell adding the conversion to make it six from six and Buccaneers left with nothing.

The Creggs starting fifteen and all the replacements played very well in giving the large crowd great entertainment on the splendid new 4G pitch, to crown the day that it was in great style.

As this is the back to back match however, they get another shot at Creggs with the teams meeting again on Saturday week in Dubarry Park, kick-off 7 pm.

The win leaves Creggs in second place, 5 points behind Connemara who notched up another bonus point win over Sligo at the weekend.

Creggs Rugby: Tom Fleming, Maurice Buckley, Aidan Leech, Ian Whittington, Brian Donoghue, Peter Lohan, James Brandon, Brian Diffley, Eoghan Coyle, Shane Purcell, Kevin Gavin, Eoghan Jennings, Shane Dowd, Martin Quinn, Ronam Dowd, Danny Arnold, Seon Og Higgins, Kevin Brandon, Mark Brandon, Ronan Cahill.

Buccaneers: O Kiernan, R Grenham, M Murphy, S Kruopa, R Byrne, S O’Connell, T Gilheany, L Donnelly, G Fallon, M Hanley, C Ford, R Moony, R Teape, C Digan, H Hughes, D Buckley, S Flynn, A Lynch, O Treacy, B McDonnell.

Referee: Shane McElwee, CBIRFU.

Creggs Development team v the Creggs Legends

Creggs Development team played Creggs Legends to mark the official opening of the club’s superb new facilities on Saturday. This game proved to be a great success, with many of the Creggs stars of the past returning to participate in a highly entertaining contest against the current crop of up-and-coming players.

Both squads alternated their players at regular intervals, giving welcome relief to the older lads who rolled back the years to remind us of their great days in the maroon and white. Some of the Legends looked in remarkable shape, with Ruairi Leddy, Emmet Collins and Enda Muldoon bamboozling the opposition at times, while Martin Fallon, Kieran Egan, Joel Mc Philbin and Edward Payne also caught the eye with strong performances.

The tries came thick and fast with the new digital scoreboard struggling to keep up with the scoring. Almost 50 players togged out to take part in this game, with referee Mattie Corcoran maintaining excellent control throughout to ensure that the game was played in a manner befitting the occasion.

The following players took part in the game:
Creggs Rugby – Trevor Nee. Enda Tully, Declan Nee, Seamus Collins,
Robert Clarke, Bernard Kilcommons, Eugene Fleming, Alan Brandon, Ruairi Leddy, Dave Flahive, James Egan, James Mc Nally, Jamie Ryan, Conor Deane, Enda Muldoon, Eoghan Cahill, Brian Coady, James Larkin, Fiachra Temple, Luke Meehan, Alan Glennon, Damien Nolan, Edward Payne, Emmet Collins, Conor Rohan, Kieran Egan, Tom Coleman, Joel Mc Philbin, Damien Connaughton, Damien Finneran, Gerard Comer, Shane O’Beirne, Gerry Keegan, Martin Fallon, Barry Kilcommons, Ger Davis, Stephen Blake, Ray Cassidy, Michael Keany, Val Browne, Eamon Coyle, Ciaran Coyle, Graham Curran, Ronan Kilcommons, Tommy Crehan, Michael Conway, and Kevin Raftery, with apologies for anyone we missed.

ADULT TEAM TRAINING

This weekend, the Creggs Under-20’s, Development squad and First team are training at 8.15 pm on Friday evening.

YOUTH RUGBY

Big home League win for Creggs Under-14 Girls

Connacht Girls Under-14 Connacht League

Creggs RFC 53, Claremorris Colts 19.

Creggs Under-14 Girls had a very good win over Claremorris Colts last week, with a score line of 53 points to 19.

Well done to both teams on a cold night for rugby. There were some excellent scores and very entertaining rugby on display.

Great feast of Youth Rugby last Saturday afternoon

On Opening Day last Saturday, there were great Creggs team performances from the Under-13 Boys, Under-15 Boys, and Under-16 Girls, but pride of place must go to the Creggs Under-16 Boys who defeated Connacht Under-16 League leaders Ballinasloe by 36-19 in a very entertaining game, with two well coached sides.

Creggs Under-16’s soar high close to Ballinasloe line on Pitch 3.

Creggs Under-15’s in action against Galwegians in a very competitive game on the 4G Pitch.

Creggs Under-18 girls who put in a really great performance v Galwegians on Pitch 4, even though they were missing a few players on the day.

YOUTH TEAMS – FIXTURES

Creggs Under-17s v Monivea RFC at 12pm on Sunday

Creggs Under-15 Boys play Monivea RFC on Wednesday at 7pm in Creggs.

Creggs Under-18 Girls play Buccaneers RFC at 10.30am on Saturday in Athlone.

Creggs Under-16 Girls play Buccaneers RFC at 12pm on Saturday in Athlone.

YOUTH TEAMS – TRAINING

Creggs Under-18.5’s training TBC for this week.

Creggs Under-17 Boys training on Wednesday night at 7pm in Creggs.

Creggs Under-16 Boys training on Wednesday nights at 7pm in Creggs.

Creggs Under-15 Boys training Wednesday night at 7pm in Creggs.

Creggs Under-14 Boys training Tuesday and Thursday nights at 7.30pm in Creggs.

Creggs Under-13 Boys training every Wednesday night at 7pm in Creggs.

GIRLS – TRAINING

Creggs Girls Rugby Training every Monday night for Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18 Girls at 7.30pm in Creggs.

MINI RUGBY

Big day for Creggs MINI Rugby proves very successful

Creggs Minis Rugby Girls and Boys hosted teams from Carrick on Shannon RFC, Claremorris RFC, and Dunmore RFC, in Creggs last Saturday morning in a major Blitz to celebrate the official opening of all the new facilities. In total, about 350 boys and 50 girls took part, in what was a great event to remember.

Some of the Creggs MINI Rugby Players that featured last Saturday in Creggs

Well done to all the coaches and parents that helped in making it such a wonderful occasion. Great to see tall the Mini coaches wearing their club jackets.

Blitz This Saturday
Next Saturday, all Mini Rugby Teams (Under-7’s, Under-8s, Under-9s, Under-10s, Under-11s, and Under-12’s) will travel to a Blitz hosted by Claremorris RFC. Please be in Claremorris for 9.45am for 10am kick-offs.

New MINI Rugby Players Alway Welcome
Creggs MINI Rugby always welcomes new players. We will have boys and girls teams from Under-7 (six year-olds) through each year up to Under-12’s. Come along and try it out on Saturday mornings when there isn’t a Blitz on. Registration is available on-line and the new season that will run through to April 2020.

Parents welcome to help with coaching
Parents are very welcome to help with coaching (full training provided) or to help support the great efforts at Creggs MINI Rugby coaching team.