The Christmas countdown may have started but our boys were not in a giving spirit as they recorded a hard fought away win over Ballinrobe RFC on Saturday.

Our lads clearly weren’t up to speed when the game began as Ballinrobe spent the majority of the first 10 minutes camped in the Claremorris half. When our boys finally realised they were in game they started to play some excellent rugby. Colts scrum-half continued his excellent try scoring form when he snuck over from the back off a ruck after some excellent forward play by the Claremorris pack. It didn’t take long for Ballinrobe to get in front as they cut through the Colts defence to lead 7-5 after 20 minutes.

As the game entered the final few minutes of the first half Liam Murphy barged his way over from the back of attacking Colts scrum to leave Claremorris 12-7 in front at half time.

Ballinrobe started the second half much the same as the first except this time they got the rewards their play deserved. After some fine inter-play among the Ballinrobe backs they touched down under the post to regain the lead. No sooner had the game restarted but the Colts were back in front. After some excellent phases by the Claremorris forwards, in particular Liam Murphy and Thomas Browne, Stephen Murphy touched down to put Claremorris back in front 19-14.

With twenty minutes left this game was far from over. Again the Ballinrobe backs cut through the Claremorris defence with the same result, to tie the scores at 19-19. The scores however didn’t stay level for long as second row Danny O’Brien weaved his way straight through the Ballinrobe defence and pop off to Danny Barry who had the simple task of touching down and put his side seven points in front.

If the Colts thought they had finally secured victory Ballinrobe had other ideas and stormed back to cross over in the corner. Now it was game on with five minutes left. The Colts put the head down and gave it one last effort. After a number of phases from the forwards powerhouse Aaron Ronayne bulldozed his way over to secure a valuable win 31-24.

The Colts had outstanding performances from a number of positions in particular fullback Shane Ruane, who made try saving tackles numerous times. Also worth a mention were team captain Liam Murphy and winning try scorer Aaron Ronayne.

Team: S. Ruane, D Mellet, D. Barry, L. Osbourne, S. Baral, J. Vahey, S. Murphy, A. Ronayne, J.Cooley, J. Ruane, D. O Brien, C. Ryan, S. Gilbert, T. Browne, L. Murphy

Subs Used: C. Hennelly, P. Breakell