Click flag to return to the home page..
Result: Creggs 17 Loughrea 19
Competition: Connacht Junior League Conference X
Creggs Team: Austin Diffley, David Donoghue, Alan Glennon, Paul Turley, Joe Heavey, Kieran Egan, Pat Cunningham, Alan Ward, John Leddy, Noel Flynn, Rory Leddy, Colin Looby, Daniel Keane, Ciaran Coyne, Paul Bradley
Subs Used: Mike O’Riordain, Johnny Mulligan
Match Report:
Creggs First Team lost further ground in the league when they lost narrowly to Loughrea in the Green. The match was played at a hectic pace throughout and Loughrea had the added bonus of taking home the PJ Ford cup. The PJ Ford cup is contested annually between these two sides in honour of a great servant of Loughrea who died tragically some twenty years ago.
The home side began the game at a great pace. After 5 minutes John Leddy crossed the Loughrea line for a fine try after a splendid jinking run. The try was converted by outhalf Noel Flynn. Loughrea then came strongly at Creggs and only some stout defending kept them out. In particular Kieran Egan put in some bone crunching tackles that would have registered fairly highly on the Richter Scale. Then after 15 minutes Pat Cunningham was unlucky to see his attempted clearance blocked down. The loughrea outhalf then strolled over for a simple try. The same player then converted the kick to level the scores at 7 points apiece.
This spurred Creggs into action and they put Loughrea under considerable pressure. Then in a moment of inspiration Loughrea took a quick penalty and proceeded to go the length of the field. This resulted in them scoring as good a try in the corner as will ever be seen in the Green. Again this was converted to leave Loughrea ahead by 14 points to 7. Then further disaster struck when Loughrea scored again in the corner to leave the score Creggs 7 Loughrea 19. Creggs then introduced Johnny Mulligan for the strangely out of sorts Daniel Keane. Mulligan made an immediate impact when he was taken down off the ball as he crossed the Loughrea try line. Mulligan who was once fondly described as a ‘cosmic cloud of infinite confusion’ was correctly awarded a penalty try. Noel Flynn converted the try to leave the halftime score at Creggs 14 Loughrea 19.
After halftime Creggs mounted a massive onslaught on the Loughrea line. They were rewarded with a penalty after 10 minutes that Noel Flynn duly kicked. This left the score at Creggs 17 Loughrea 19. In fairness for the remainder of the game Creggs played some good rugby. Right winger Colin Looby looked to have scored a scintillating try after 30 minutes. However the score was disallowed for a forward pass. Creggs kept pressing but they just could not score and Loughrea ran out winners by 2 points. Even deep in injury time Creggs drove towards the Loughrea line. Loughrea were hugely fortunate that they were not penalised for collapsing the ensuing maul. The PJ Ford cup was presented to the Loughrea captain who just happened to be named Hennessy.