Monivea RFC 32 :: Sligo RFC 21
Sligo lost out to a strong Monivea outfit in their final Junior league encounter of the 2009/2010 season at the Castle grounds in Monivea on Sunday. The Galway side outscored their northwestern visitors by four tries to two in a fast paced encounter played in ideal conditions.
Sligo won the toss and elected to play with the aid of the breeze in the first half. Early pressure by the forwards looked to have reaped reward when a maul was driven over the Monivea line but the referee was unsighted and the try was not awarded. Sligo did manage to get off the mark with a Paddy Pearson penalty, kicked from the 22 metre line.
Monivea reacted immediately and a well worked move saw centre Dave Prior split the Sligo defence and touch down under the posts. Outhalf Seamus Fahy added the extras.
The home side increased their advantage after 10 minutes when Sligo failed to deal with a kick through and a penalty was conceded. Fahy easily added another three points.
Pearson and Fahy then traded penalties before Sligo were dealt a hammer blow. A scrum against the head was conceded on the Sligo 22. The Monivea backline quicky moved the ball wide giving winger Brian Mc Donagh an easy run to the line for his teams second try and closing the half with a score 18 points to 9.
Sligo started the second half with an air of determination and the pack, with Jason East prominent, were beginning to impose themselves on the Monivea 8. It was the home team however who were next to add to the scoreline when, against the run of play a loose chip was collected by Prior, and the centre released winger Ger Divilly who raced unopposed to the corner.
Despite this setback and the loss of influential full back David Geritty through injury Sligo continued to press and a trademark Pearson break allowed the outhalf break the Monivea defense and touch down to the left of the posts. Jordan Farrington added the conversion to bring the score to 25 points to 14.
Monivea again attacked and some strong running put them back into the Sligo 22. The Sligo defence was stretched and as a result a penalty was conceded and substitute Julian Rippon was sent to the sin bin. The Galway man made the most of the numerical advantage by opting for the scrum,moving the ball wide and scoring in the corner. Fahy added the conversion with a superbly struck effort.
Sligo were not finished and gamely battled on. A Peter Mullan line out take on the Monivea 22 was pushed wide and winger Ted Mulvaney looped around to collect and score in the corner for the final score.
Next week sees Sligo take on Tuam in their Connacht Junior Cup semi-final. The match kicks off at Hamilton Park on Sunday at 2.30.
Sligo: David Geritty, Ted Mulvaney, Niall O Hara, Gavin Foley, Jordan Farrington, Paddy Pearson, Billy Leahy, Adrian Mc Hale, Gary Conneely, Jason East, James Wilson, Jamie Bowes, Joe Sweeney, Cathal Culhane, Peter Mullan. Reps Martin Feeney, Julian Rippon, Trevor Sweeney.
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