Westport RFC 8 :: Sligo RFC 10
Persistent rain through the night and early morning resulted in very slippery conditions for Sligo’s third outing in the U-17 League. Last season both the U15 and U16 teams travelled to Westport and conceded league points. However, there was a palpable resolve in the Sligo camp to prevent a recurrence in this season’s campaign.
Westport RFC v Sligo RFC U17 League – Images by Shooting Stars
The conditions made it difficult for players to settle into the game and the opening minutes same handling errors on both sides. A dream start for the visitors seemed on the way when, five minutes into game, Sligo recycled possession a number of times and sent Diarmuid O’Dowd Hill powering towards the line with out-half Michael Martin and winger David Burke in support. David received the ball 10 metres from the line and crossed over for a touchdown but play was called back for an infringement.
In the ensuing period play was largely between the respective 22-metre lines. However, it was in this period that Sligo dominance in the set pieces came to the fore. In the scrummage Sligo’s front five comprising the Davey twins, Gerard Melly, Diarmuid O’Dowd Hill and Daragh Tonry were formidable while the line-outs saw excellent jumping and first-rate handling by Sean Donnelly and Jake Roemer.
The first score of the game came in the 17th minute when the Sligo team was awarded a scrum on the opposition 22-metre line. A solid Sligo scrum moved play towards the line and, in a pick-and-drive, the back row advanced further and in the final phase Diarnuid O-Dowd Hill broke from the ruck, was tackled but not held, and crossed to put points on the board. Jimmy Mullins scored the conversion.
Fired-up by this setback the Westport team attacked the Sligo lines from the restart and in the ensuing passage of play a penalty was awarded to the home side and was ably scored by the outhalf.
The next period of play belonged to Sligo and the efforts were rewarded when, on the 26th minute, the home side was penalised for not releasing and James Mullin tapped over to give Sligo a seven-point advantage.
However, the Sligo score drew a similar attacking response from the Westport because, two minutes after the penalty, the home side worked the way deep into Sligo territory and, in an impressive passage of play, crossed over for a try in the corner. However, the conversion attempt failed leaving Sligo with a two-point advantage at the interval.
In the third quarter the Sligo side sought to bring more variation into their game and, from quality-ball from set pieces and broken play, the back line attempted to work the ball wide but simply couldn’t get to terms with the playing conditions.
The final quarter saw the Sligo pack’s most impressive display of the game when opting to retain possession and starve the opposition of opportunities. The line-out performance, rucking and mauling were very impressive.
The final talking point of the game arose when the Westport back line sought to play from a deep defensive position. Good containment by the visiting forwards led to a breakdown followed by a kick-ahead towards the in-goal area; the ensuing scramble saw Sean Conlon narrowly miss a try-scoring opportunity as the opposition cover secured the touchdown. Moments later the final whistle sounded leaving Sligo unbeaten run intact.
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