It was a cold frosty Sunday morning in the Square in Claremorris, as the U14 squad got ready to make the long trip west to Clifden to see who would finish top of the Connacht U14 league. As the convoy hit the road spirits were high that a win be garnered.

As game time approached the weather was playing its part with good conditions to allow these two fine rugby teams show all that is good about the game of rugby. The home team were out of the traps early not allowing the Colts to get into their stride with some aggressive rucking and tackling. The Claremorris men soaked up this pressure with some frantic scrambling defence with Henry Keane tackling his heart out. However the star of the Connemara back line the very impressive ‘Man in Black’ no13 Will Smith, who scored under the posts making the extra points a certainty.

The locals were up for this game. Again and again they ran at the Colts defence. The Claremorris men were not just finding their groove, this coupled with some off par rucking gave the home team the advantage in the first half. It wasn’t long before Connemara scored again this time however they missed the conversion. So 12-0 down and the game claimed its first victim Oisin Hunt off injured with Joseph Moran replacing him. The Colts were on the back foot and needed half time to come quick to give them a chance to regroup.

During the break the Colts bench got its chance to shine, in came Brian O’Reilly and Ronan Commons with Finian Brady and Daniel Murphy giving way. If the first half was the starter then the second half was the main course, dessert & everything else you can mention as both teams served up a classic. As the half started the early signs looked good for the Colts. They seemed to have found the rugby spark again. Brandon and Liam Walsh started to get the back line moving using the straight running of Brian O’Reilly to get the all-important go forward ball. The Colts firsts score came from the powerful Steven McGreal who touched down after five minutes. Now the Colts started the comeback and Phelim Brown was running with aggression and making yards and finished a great passing move to score in the corner. No extras were added to leave the Colts trailing 12-10. This was a purple patch for Claremorris, the handling and aggression was back and the new man the very impressive Brian O’Reilly powered over for a great try after fine work by his colleagues. This was another impressive performance from O’Reilly who got his second try in as many games for the Colts. So at 15-12 the game was in the balance and the home and away supporters were doing their best to spur on their men. The crowd were treated to one of the best 15 minutes of attacking rugby they will see this season. The locals hit back through the hard working Sean Kennedy who cut through the Colts defence to score a fine try however no extras could be added, to put the hosts back in front 17-15.

Back came the Colts again with great attacking play forcing Connemara to defend their fragile lead. A Connemara scrum on their own 5m line didn’t seem to offer much attacking options until it got into the hands of that man again Will Smith who ran the length of the field to score a fantastic 7 pointer under the posts. So it was now 24-15 and time running out for the visitors. Could the Colts react to this hammer blow? The answer wasn’t long coming and the magnificent captain Brian Quinn led this team straight back down the field. With his team firmly behind him they looked for a way back and the captain found that gap and scored a fine try. With every point now counting all attention turned to Jack Ronayne who coolly added the two points, 24 -22 and only a few minutes left.

The crowd were now even louder, tension was visible on all faces around the ground. The kick off seemed to take for ever to come as the home team took time to settle themselves for the finish. Kick off gathered the Colts went after the game, as we entered the final minute, the Colts attacked the left wing with powerful running, a quick ruck and out along the attacking line to the hands of Brian Quinn with a two man overlap outside him, the covering defence was coming across he went with the show and go and cut back inside to find a clear run to get the winning score under the posts. The extras added by Ronayne, 29-24 to Claremorris surely that was it, but no the referee pointed to half way for the kick off as he called “last play”. From the kick-off the ball found the safe of hands of Jack Ronayne who kicked the ball dead, game over. It was a fantastic game of rugby from two great teams who showed passion & skill and treated the supporters to a game which will live long in the memory. To pick a man of the match would be unfair as the entire Claremorris team and subs gave it their absolute all to claim a fine win. Top spot in the league is now guaranteed, the next aim is to win the league semi-final, which will take place in the coming weeks