The Claremorris Colts U-15 rugby team had to make do with second place in the Connacht Development League for this season after they suffered defeat in the title decider in Dunmore on Tuesday night last, January 25, on a score line of 21-0.

The early exchanges saw the Claremorris boys charge out of the traps and they were first to every ball. However the weather did neither team any favours as the wind and rain made ball-handling extremely difficulty. For all their pressure early on, Claremorris could not make that final pass to get the score and so it was Dunmore who got the opening score with a breakaway try midway through the first. The conversion was duly added to leave Claremorris trailing 7-0. Things could have been a lot worse but for fullback Daniel Merrick making an outstanding last-ditch tackle to prevent a certain try late in the half. This left the score line 7-0 to the hosts at halftime.

The Claremorris boys were clearly given a harsh talking to by their management team at half time as they began the second period all guns blazing. Their passing was much quicker and tackling was of the highest order, in particular for Stephen Murphy, Jarlath Ruane, Liam Murphy and Thomas Browne. But, luck was not on the side of the visitors and Dunmore wrapped up the game with two quick tries to seal the win over their neighbours. The Claremorris heads did not drop and they kept playing to the final whistle but to no avail. Although defeated, all of the Colts team gave everything to the cause, including those who came off the bench. Particularly impressive were Daniel Merrick, Shane Gilbert, Liam Murphy, Cathal Walsh and team captain Jack Vahey. It must be remembered that this team is only together a few short months and second place in the League is a great achievement. Well done to all members of the panel from 1 to 29. Credit must also be given to Dunmore who deserved their win, but the Claremorris boys can learn a lot for this defeat and come back stronger.

Team: D Merrick, Jack Vahey (C), S Murphy, C Hanley, J Lally, L Osbourne, D Barry, J Ruane, C Ryan, J Cooley, A Ronayne, D Mellet, S Gilbert, T Browne, L Murphy

Subs: E Slattery, C Walsh, P Breakell, E Clarke, C Lavery, J Gallagher, D Leonard, R Vahey, D. O Brien, E Roe, Z Birdthistle, J A Vahey, E Harkin, S Crashaw

The Season So Far:

* Loughrea 25-5 Claremorris

Things did not get off to a great start as the Colts U-15 team were defeated in their opening league game of the season. The hosts were quicker to every ball and got the scores on the board at vital times. At 15-0 down at halftime things did not look good for the visitors but a much-improved second half resulted in a much tighter contest, with Claremorris getting their opening try of the campaign in 25-5 defeat. Although defeated and this was an encouraging start to their league campaign. Particularly impressive for Claremorris were Jack Vahey, Jack Lally, Liam Murphy and Shane Gilbert.

* Claremorris 15-12 Ballyhaunis

Game two brought a better performance and more importantly a better result as Claremorris overcame their near neighbours in tight encounter. Claremorris got the opening score of the game but back came Ballyhaunis to leave it 5-5 at the halftime break. Claremorris stepped it up a gear in the second half and added further scores to hold on for a 15-12 victory. The win was built on an outstanding display from Aaron Ronayne, who was ably assisted by his back row colleagues Shane Gilbert and Thomas Browne.

* Claremorris 5-10 Dunmore

In what was a very tense affair Dunmore just prevailed as they outscored their local rivals by two tries to one to set themselves on the road the league title. This was not a game for the purists as it was all about the forwards who had to work to make the hard yards. They may have been on the wrong end of the score line but Claremorris were lead by the impressive back row unit of Liam Murphy, Shane Gilbert and Thomas Browne.

* Ballyhaunis 12-24 Claremorris

Claremorris clearly enjoyed their Christmas break as they started the new year in fine style. The Colts raced into an early lead with tries from Jack Vahey and Shane Gilbert. However Ballyhaunis hit back with tries of their own to bring the game back into the melting pot. Jack Vahey bagged two more tries in the second half to complete his hat trick and Daniel Merrick added the conversions to give the Claremorris boys a fine win. Jack Vahey rightly grabbed the headlines for his scores, but Shane Gilbert, Daniel Merrick and Danny Barry also deserve a mention for their excellent play.

* Claremorris 19-3 Loughrea

Claremorris knew they had to avenge their opening day defeat if they stood any chance of the No 1 spot come seasons end and they duly did with a fine team performance. From start to finish they gave it their all and took their scoring chances when they came along. That man again Jack Vahey did the damage with three tries for the Colts. However those tries would not have occurred were it not for his 14 team mates who put in an excellent display in all aspects of the game, particularly Danny Barry, centres Stephen Murphy and Cormac Hanley and back rowers Shane Gilbert and Tomas Browne

Challenge Matches:

* Ballaghaderreen 19-39 Claremorris

This was undoubtedly not a team performance but a squad performance as those hadn’t been making the starting line up got their chance to shine and they duly did with a fine victory over Ballaghaderreen on a score line of 39-19. This big win gave their management team a selection headache for the remainder of the season as all players contributed to fine victory. Daniel Merrick gave an exhibition of kicking as he hit the ball spot on numerous occasions from all angles. Also impressive were Ethan Clarke and Shane Crashaw.

* Corinthians 10-49 Claremorris

Claremorris travelled to Galway to take on the Corinthians in a challenge match and overcame them on a score line of 46-10. On a night that was ideal for playing conditions Claremorris certainly took full advantage with some excellent play, particularly from their back line whose passing was of the highest order, with Jack Vahey doing most of the damage and getting in for a number of scores, he was capably assisted by Danny Barry, Luke Osborne and Cian Ryan.