The Claremorris Colts U17 rugby team got their delayed 2015/16 season league campaign underway last Sunday with a convincing win over neighbours Tuam RFC.  Leading 15-0 at the break the Colts turned on the style in the second half to record a convincing 44-8 at the final whistle and mark a great start to the season.

The Colts U17 rugby team made the short trip to Tuam RFC last Sunday more in trepidation than expectation as a result of the stop-start nature of the early season preparations. However underneath a veneer of nervousness lies a steely resolve in this team and it came to the fore on Sunday with a ruthless demonstration of clinical finishing to which Tuam had no answer. Stephen McGreal got the first points on the board when finishing off a well worked midfield combination with Brian Quinn to touch down on five minutes. Jack Ronayne added the extras and that sequence of play set the tone for the remainder of the half with the Colts creating numerous openings from clever interchanges in the midfield.  The score that did materialise came when Thomas Morris took advantage of lax line speed on 15 minutes to score off the back of a scrum which took place on the Tuam 10 metre line. The try was converted leaving the score at 15-0 at half time.  Brian Quinn crossed the Tuam try line in the first minute of the second half and when the Jack Ronayne conversion bisected the posts the game was effectively over as a contest. Further tries  from Liam Walsh, Bradley Hughes and Brian Quinn put a gloss on the score and a good opening win for the Colts.

Colts Team vs Tuam RFC

15. Brian Quinn  14. Liam Walsh  13. Ruairi Merrick  (Ryan McLoughlan 50 mins)  12. Bradley Hughes  11. Conor Jordan  10.Jack Ronayne  9. Thomas Morris   1. Barry McGing  (Henry Keane 35 mins)  2. Ciaran Murphy   3. Alan Thornton  4. Dylan Jennings  5. Joe McDonagh  6. Jason Kelly 7. Phelim Browne (Capt) 8. Stephen McGreal