Colts U16

The U16s lined out today in a wet and greasy pitch in Dunmore against a very determined and aggressive Carrick on Shannon. Even before the game started the Colts Tighthead Sean McHale injured his right shoulder in the warm up but was determined to start. The game started very well for the Colts and they kept the opposition pinned in their own half for almost all the first half. However, even with all the pressure mounted by the Colts they could not make a break through. A missed penalty was all the Colts had to show for all he pressure. Sean McHale carried massively in the first half, but unfortunately one carry to many saw him further injure that right shoulder and he had to be replaced by Kieran Sullivan. The one time the Colts did go over with Kyle Leonard in the corner a dubious line out call was made claiming Kyle put a foot in touch and pressure was eased on the Carrick line.

From the resultant line-out Carrick claimed the ball and worked it forward; a kick to nothing in behind the Colts saw the Carrick full back chase the ball and a favourable bounce saw Carrick score the opening try completely against the run of play, fortunately they failed to convert. The boys in red needed no further encouragement and five minutes later from a scrum in the Colts half, replacement scrum half and Captain Dermott Cawley fed Kyle Leonard and with lightning speed he broke down the left wing gave a beautiful step inside to make a fool of the Carrick fullback.  Kyle did as he always does best and went over for the first points for the home side, unfortunately the conversion was missed.

 With their tails up the Colts pushed on and from a line clearance by Carrick, Joe Prendergast gathered the ball and with Carrick penalised for offside Joe duly stepped up to the mark and kicked the Colts into an 8-5 lead. Carrick kicked off and into touch. From the line out deep in the Colts half, Jason Morley threw a glorious ball into the line out and with perfect lifting by the two Jacks of Gleeson and Kennedy they hoisted Nathan Moran into the air who caught the ball perfectly and gave it to Dermott who, quick as a flash fed Kyle Leonard. A break across the pitch followed by a move that the backs have worked hard on for weeks Kyle then handed off the ball to John Wallace who put on the after burners to run in the Colts second try which was converted by Joe Prendergast.

Half time Colts 13- 5 Carrick.

Second half was a different affair. The half started well but then deteriorated into a messy game. A fair tackle by John Wallace on the Carrick No.9 saw the No.9 accuse John of punching him and he punched back at John. With no assistance from the side-lines the ref he had no choice but to yellow card both players. Carrick piled on the pressure but with huge tackles being made by MAN OF THE MATCH Luke Colleran the Colts kept them at bay. A tactical change by the Colts coach saw Adam Gleeson withdrawn and Brian McWalters come in. Dermott went back in at second row Kyle out to No.9 and Brian at No.10. From a scrum Kyle Leonard tackled their No.9 fairly, as Kyle got up the No.9 kicked out and caught Kyle, heated arguments by the coaches on the side-line ensued; alas the ref was not in a position to see the incident. Once more the ref had to call in the Captains to talk to their players.

An accidental collision between 2 Carrick players saw their coach call the ref to say that a Colts player had punched one of them. Once more side-lines got heated and the ref had to come over to calm the situation.With mounting pressure from Carrick, they went over after a strong passage of play from their No.9. The Conversion was missed again.

Tragedy struck Claremorris with 5 minutes to play when the influential Colts player Kyle Leonard was yellow carded for ill-discipline just as John Wallace was returning to the game. This incident seemed to rally the Colts and with huge drives up the field with great carries from the big forwards Kieran Sullivan, Jack Gleeson and Jack Kennedy the Colts got within 15 metres of the Carrick line and with the ruck formed Luke Colleran picked off the back and with huge determination drove for the line with 3 Carrick players trying to stop him, Luke somehow managed to get the ball on the line. With great consternation by the Carrick coaches claiming Luke was short of the line, the ref would not be swayed by their futile arguments and awarded the well-deserved try. With the resultant kick off the Colts gathered, pushed up field and although they lost possession Carrick knocked on and the final whistle blew.

Final score. Colts 20- 12 Carrick on Shannon.

Colts U14

The Colts’ U14’s returned to winning ways this weekend away to Ballinasloe on a wet blustery Saturday morning.  The colts got an early wake-up call when the home side started brightly and broke the line in the first few minutes to score under the posts and take a 7-point lead. From the restart the home side piled on the pressure and with the advantage of a strong breeze made the Colts dig deep forcing our lads to work hard. Credit to the lads they dug deep, Mc Nicholas broke the line and touched down to reduce the lead to 2 points.

From the restart colts took control of the last few minutes of the half and Morris managed to cross over after sustained pressure on the home side’s line he added the extras to leave it12-7 at half time.

There was a brilliant start to the second half which saw the try of the game when Ruadhan O’Conaire collected the ball on the wing and made a 55-yard dash to cross over with a pack of Ballinasloe men hunting him down. This was superb stuff and gave a great lift to his team. There was a welcome return of Liam Walsh from illness to score a brace and a try from Foody and full back Thornton finished the scoring. Morris kicked 4 conversions, another fine day with the boot considering conditions. There were also excellent performances from Hett, Noone, Mortimer and Jennings.

Final Score Ballinasloe 7 – 43 Colts