Claremorris Colts and Galwegians renewed their rivalry and played out a enjoyable draw in the Connaught U-16 plate semi-final. Ardil Jennings was in Crowley Park on Sunday to witness the action.

When the sides met last month in the league final Claremorris came out on top 26-12 so both teams knew it would be a tough encounter.  Galwegians got the perfect start when a mistake in the Claremorris defence from the kick off allowed the home side to pile on the pressure and came away with a converted try after only four minutes.

The Colts started to settle down and play rugby after this concession. After a good break from back row Phelim Browne who nearly got over the line the Colts were awarded a scrum. The ball then was moved wide by Brandon Walsh and Brian O’Reilly for Brian Quinn to touch down in the corner. Brian McGuinnes missed the difficult side line conversion to leave it 5-7 to Galwegians.

Claremorris gained the lead from the resulting kick off. When Phelim Browne gathered the ball and broke a number of tackles he fed Steven McGreal who in turn offloaded to the speedy Brian Quinn who again broke the covering tackle for another try which this time was converted by Brian McGuinness to leave the scoreline at 12-7 after 16 minutes. The home side never let these concessions get to them and broke up field and only for a forward pass would have got over for their second try.

Galwegians then tried an up and under kick but it was blocked by Brian Quinn and gathered by Conor Jordan who made good yardage into the Galwegians half. Following some good work at the ruck from Jason Kelly and Dylan Jennings this allowed Brian Quinn to try a cross field pass for Steven McGreal however with the line at his mercy he  couldn’t convert. Both sides had good periods of  possession until a break from Claremorris’s Brian O’Reilly resulted in a high tackle and a penalty being awarded. Jack Roynane stepped up to convert to leave the scoreline 15-7 in favour of visitors with 25 minutes played.

The home side again attacked from the restart and won a penalty for holding on in the ruck. Instead of taking the easy three points Galwegians went for the corner and from the lineout scored a pushover try. The conversion was also added to leave the scoreline at half time 15-14 in favour of the Colts.

Galwegians started the second half as the first and put the Colts defence under severe pressure and only for a try saving tackle from Rory Merrick would have got the dream start. Galwegians kept up the pressure and after five minutes on the Colts line got the try they deserved however they missed the conversion.

The Colts pushed up on the home side’s defence and won a lineout which was taken by Kieran Murphy who picked out Joseph McDonagh who in turn fed Brandon Walsh and after some slick passing through the hands by Phelim Browne, Brian Quinn and Brian McGuinnes the final pass just went forward to deny the Colts the ultimate team try.

The home side then kicked down field which was gathered by the outstanding Brian Quinn who broke a number of tackles and run the length of the pitch to score a great individual try which Jack Roynane converted to put the visitors ahead 22-19 with 15 minutes left.

The home side again pushed for scores and after good defensive work from Oisin Hunt, Jack Roynane and Dylan Jennings released Conor Jordan to again run the length of the field to score a great try which Brian McGuinnes converted to leave visitors 29-19 heading into final ten minutes.

Claremorris instead of playing safe & possession rugby started to make small mistakes which allowed the home side to gain a foothold. After some good work by the Galwegians pack they powered over for a try to reduce the margin to 5 with just five minutes on the clock.

The large visiting crowd were starting to feel more than a small bit nervous. Galwegians again gained possession and kicked for the corner. This put the Claremorris Colts line out under pressure and they gathered possession to mount a last ditch attack which resulted in a try in the corner. Thankfully for the Colts Galwegians missed the resulting conversion and both teams live to fight again.

Both side served up good patches of rugby across the day and we now look forward to round three of this epic clash.

Colts: B McGuinness , R Merrick, B O’Reilly, B Quinn, C Jordan, J Roynane, B Walsh, O Hunt, K Murphy, By McGing, D Jennings, J McDonagh, J Kelly, P Brown, S McGeal,

Subs Used: D McAllister, A Thornton, H Keane, L Walsh, B Hughes, T Morris