Tuesday evening 9th March was dry but with a distinct chill in the air as the Claremorris Colts U14’s took to the field against division one opponents Castlebar RFC in the first round of the Connacht Rugby 2014 plate competition. Despite a marked physical disadvantage the Colts battled hard and were leading 17 -14 at half time. However, the extra physicality offered by Castlebar came to prominence in the second half and the home side eventually ran out 35-22 winners of a very entertaining game.
The Claremorris Colts U14’s knew they faced a difficult task when drawing Division 1 opponents Castlebar RFC in the first round of the 2014 Plate. Castlebar started the game at a high tempo and their urgency was awarded with a converted try and a 7-0 lead after only 3 minutes. This early set-back steeled the Colts. Good work from the forwards on 10 minutes got the ball wide to Bradley Hughes whose intelligent grubber kick allowed him to beat two defenders and get the Colts on the score board. Another Bradley Hughes try on 15 minutes put the Colts ahead 12-7and a fine Shane Kelly effort in the right corner moved the score out to 17-7 after 18 minutes. However the security of a 10 point cushion was short-lived and Castlebar capitalised on a Colts defensive mix-up on the 20 minute mark to score under the posts. Some frantic defence by the Colts in the last 5 minutes of the half left the score at 17-12 going into the break.
The instruction at half time was more of the same and for 5 minutes, it looked as if a giant killing against their illustrious Division one opponents might be on the cards for the Colts. However the dream became a nightmare between the 10th and 20th minutes; a series of errors and lapses of concentration handed the initiative to the powerful Castlebar forwards who ruthlessly exploited some glaring gaps in the Colts defence to score 4 unanswered tries and take a 35 -17 lead going into the last 5 minutes. The possibility of a Colts come-back flickered briefly on 20 minutes when Thomas Morris exploited a distracted Castlebar defence to score in the corner but Castlebar hung on to record a fine 35-22 victory and extinguish the Claremorris Colts dream of Connacht Rugby U14 Plate glory this season.
Team: Jack Colleran, Stephen Kelly, Gary Moran, Conor Gaughan, Jack O’Connell, Shane Kelly, Alan Campbell, Alan Kelly, Thomas Morris, Colin Mulligan, Dean Moran, Jamie Campbell, Bradley Hughes, Brian Campbell, Justin Commins, Danills Kuzmins, David Devane, Max Gilmore, Conor Carney, Jordan Flanagan, Cathal Canavan