The Claremorris Colts exited the Connacht U-16 Cup at the hands of Ballina RFC on a sun-drenched afternoon on Bank Holiday Monday last, March 19.

It was the hosts, Ballina, who had the advantage of whatever wind was available in the opening half however the Colts made the brighter start and were full of endeavour during the early exchanges. Claremorris had the majority of possession during the opening 10 minutes but could not make the pressure count and over the course of the following 15 minutes Ballina racked up three and made the Colts pay dearly for their shoddy play.

The first try came after some sustained pressure on the Claremorris line, before Ballina crossed over in the corner. It was a case of ‘Oops I did it again’ from the Claremorris defence after some poor play the Colts gave away the ball in midfield to the ruthless Ballina attack who got their second try of the half.

Ballina got their third right on the half time whistle. After neat interplay among the backs they touched down under the posts and two points were added to leave Ballina leading 17-0 at the change of ends.

The break did the visitors the world of good as they started the second half in the ascendency. After a number of penalties the Colts finally made the break through as captain Stephen Murphy took a quick penalty and passed out wide to Dave Mellet who crashed over and get the try his performance deserved. The concession of that try was enough to wake Ballina from their half time slumber and they put the game beyond doubt with two quick fire trys as the game was over as a contest at 29-5.

Credit to the Colts who kept plugging away and after some excellent among the forward pack Liam Murphy (pictured left) got the score, for his second try in as many games. Shane Ruane popped over the conversion to leave hosts well in command at 29-12. Claremorris continued to apply serious pressure on the Ballina line however he would not be breached for a third time and as the game entered the final minutes Ballina worked a set piece off their scrum and got the final score of the game to finish convincing winners 34-12.

Although beaten the Colts had some fine performances right throughout the field, particularly from the always reliable and impressive Danny O’Brien in the line out(as typified by the photo on the left). He surely is one of the outstanding lineout jumpers on show within the U16 age grade in Connacht rugby. He was ably assisted by a number of his fellow forward pack but back rower Liam Murphy deserves a special mention , as does wing man Dave Mellet who put in a tireless performance throughout the 60 minutes.

Team: L. Osborne, D, Barry, C. Hanley, S. Ruane, D. Mellett, J. Vahey S. Murphy (c), A. Ronayne, J.Cooley, C. Ryan, D. O Brien, S. Walsh, S. Gilbert, L. Murphy, T. Browne

Subs: E Roe, M. Byrne, J. Gallagher, E. Clarke, E. Slattery, Ja Ruane, C. Walsh, TJ Byrne