Corinthians and Westport played out a 5-5 draw in the quarter final of the Connacht U-18 Cup in Westport on Sunday last, and will replay in Galway at the week-end. Sligo are away to the winners in the semi-final, and this game will now, most likely, take place on Sunday week next, March 30th.
Monthly Archive for March, 2008
Page 2 of 4
Aaron Spring is currently in Italy participating in an International four country Youth [U-18] tournament, where among the competing nations are Ireland, England and Italy. Although he has starred for the club either in the second row or at No. 8, and for Summerhill College as a full-back, Aaron plays at open side wing forward for Ireland.
Ireland’s most capped scrum-half, Peter Stringer, will launch Annie West’s illustrated book, ”Moxie the Underdog”, at Eason’s Bookshop, Galway on Saturday March 29th at 11 a.m.
The 82 times capped International and Munster player provided the inspiration for Annie to write the book,and do the illustrations, after watching him perform so heroically in Munster’s famous Heineken Cup final victory over Biarritz in May 2006. His last ditch tackle on the towering full-back, and and his opportunism in outwitting Betson and Co. by breaking on the blind side after a scrum, to score his unforgettable match winning try, will forever be etched in the memory.
The theme of the book is that size is unimportant, and that tenacity, an adventurous spirit and bravery are qualities which can overcome all odds.
Annie is the coach of the U-8 side in the club, and is a staunch worker in several capacities, in particular, being ever present as a disco steward. At the two most recent club Dinners, her specially commissioned paintings were presented to the guest speakers, Mick Galwey and David Humphreys, respectively. Both paintings had a rugby theme, and were much admired by the recipients and by all in attendance.
The club President, Tom Gilligan, and the Committee, congratulate Annie on her latest superb work, and wish her a very successful launch.
Sligo Grammar School 8 :: Marist College, Athlone 5
There were scenes of jubilation and unrestrained joy at the Galway Sportsgrounds on Wednesday last, when after a fiercely contested Connacht Junior Schools final, Sligo Grammar School emerged victorious over Marist College, Athlone, in an absorbing game. After an encounter marked by admirable commitment and sportsmanship from both sides, the vociferous Sligo supporters were ecstatic when Connacht Branch Vice-President, Mick Grealish, presented the Connacht Tribune Cup to the winning captain, John Healy.
Continue reading ‘Grammar School Juniors Win Connacht Double’
Thanks to Rory R. for sending in some photos from the 6 Nations match between Ireland and Wales in Croke Park last weekend. Despite the brutal performance on the field members of Sligo Rugby Club managed to have a good time 
View the rest of the photos here. If any members have other photos they would like to see on the site please email them to the webmaster.
Sligo 40 :: Connemara 7
In very testing weather conditions Sligo put in a complete team performance to defeat Connemara 40 to 7, in the under 18 Connacht cup quarter final. Right from the kick off Sligo put Connemara on the ropes, and never really let them off them. The Sligo pack out muscled their opposites and the Sligo backs out maneuvered theirs.
Monivea 31 :: Sligo 12
In years to come, when the participants in last Thursday night’s Connacht Junior 1 league game in Monivea between Sligo and Monivea reflect on their careers, they will almost certainly regard the climatic conditions throughout this game as by far the worst they ever experienced. To say that the game was played in a deluge would be an understatement. Rain cascaded down for an hour prior to kick-off, and continued throughout the entire game. Virtually the entire pitch was covered by a sheet of water, while a rivulet flowed along the touchline. To compound the misery of all involved, the temperature dropped to close to freezing point. Continue reading ‘Sligo Defeated On Night Of Great Flood’
Sligo Grammar School play Marist College, Athlone in the final of the Connacht Junior Schools Cup at the Galway Sportsgrounds on Wednesday next at 3 pm. Both sides have impressed in their outings to date, with Grammar overcoming Clifden Community School in the semi-final, while Marist saw off St. Joseph’s, Galway. These two sides also met in the league final in Athlone before Christmas, with Grammar scoring the narrowest of victories, 6-5.
This promises to be another closely fought encounter. Grammar are a well balanced side, with no apparent weaknesses, and are well coached by Jimmy Staunton and Simon Galvan. In centre, John Healy they have a potential match winner, while out-half, Eoin O’Doherty is a very accomplished goal kicker. Up front Thomas Ferrari, Diarmuid O’Dowd-Hill and David Heath are sure to provide a lot of possession.
The star of the Marist side is out-half, Jack Carty, and if Grammar can close him down, they will be favourites to lift the coveted trophy.
Sligo play Creggs on Sunday next in Hamilton Park [Kick-Off 3 pm], in the opening round of the Cawley Cup. This is Sligo’s last chance of silverware for the season, so they will be determined to play to their potential, and to secure some reward for their endeavors all season. The Co. Roscommon side played in the second division of the league this season, but have just gained promotion, so they will be putting down a marker on Sunday that they they are well capable of surviving at the higher level.
Sligo should be in a position to select from a full strength panel, with the exception of Mark Boland, who has a back injury. The winners of this tie will have a home quarter final, probably against Castlebar, on March 23rd.
The dire necessity for proper all-weather pitches at the club was again apparent at the week-end, when three of the four cup games scheduled to take place at Hamilton Park had to be called off, as the pitches were unplayable. The postponement has serious repercussions for the U-14 squad, as Galwegians had traveled from Galway, but the referee deemed the pitch to be unplayable, so Sligo will lose home advantage for the re-fixed tie (REFIXED for Sunday March 16th in Ballinasloe at 11.30am). The 2nd team’s game with Tuam was also called off, but this was done before Tuam traveled, and this was also the case, regarding the U-13′s cup game V Monivea.
With so many teams in the club at present, and so much useage, through matches and training, and given the local climatic conditions, only a synthetic pitch, and sand based pitches will satisfy requirements for the club.
Tickets for the teenage alcohol-free teenage disco, which will be held in the Clubhouse on Thursday March 20th at 9 pm, went on sale at the week-end, and at the time of going to press had almost sold out. Early purchase is advised for this strictly all ticket disco, as under no circumstances will cash be accepted at the door on that evening. The Event Organiser, Justin Harte, and the Chief Steward, Niall Draper, have all arrangements made, so another very enjoyable evening is predicted.
The next monthly meeting of the club will take place on Tuesday next,March 18th. in Bree’s Bar at 8p.m..Committee members are asked to check their E-mails for communications from the Hon.Secretary,Michael Storey regarding some very important current matters.
There is a lot of interest in this year’s Volvic Tag Rugby League, which is being organised by the Irish Tag Rugby Association and which commences in Hamilton Park in mid-May. For details of entry into the competition please visit their website:www.tagrugby.ie
Crosshaven, who defeated a depleted Sligo side by 19-10 in the AIB All-Ireland Junior Cup quarter final, were defeated by Navan by 9-0 in the semi-final on Saturday, but only after two periods of extra time were played. The sides were scoreless after 80 minutes.
Corrib defeated Corinthians at the week-end and so take the fourth Connacht qualifying slot for next season’s AIB All-Ireland Junior Cup. Defeat for Corrib in this game, and victory for Sligo in their final league game against Tuam, would have seen Sligo qualify for the third successive year. In the end, this issue was probably decided when Sligo played Corrib in the league in Headford before Christmas. The result then of a most uninspiring game was a 3-3 draw, leaving Sligo to rue the fact that they let a very winnable game slip. Victory in this game would have given Sligo control of their own destiny regarding qualification. Last Sunday’s result will render the remaining Sligo V Tuam league game meaningless, as Tuam are already relegated, and the points are of no value to either side.
