Under 13s Rumble On

Sligo RFC U13 39 :: an Gaeltacht 22

Sligo Under 13’s made it two out of two in the Connacht Cup with another win in their clash with An Gaeltacht in Strandhill on Sunday. The conditions were perfect and in front of a big home crowd, Sligo put on their best display of rugby this season.

An Gaeltacht came out firing on all cylinders and forced Sligo back into their own half for the first ten minutes, creating a penalty opportunity which they capitalised on opening the game, making it 3-0.

Sligo responded soon after with a try from another flying down the sideline run from winger Darragh Cummings, who then converted his own try to make it 7-3 to Sligo.

Sligo then decided to put a bit more pressure on and forced An Gaeltacht back down into their own half with some impressive rucking and mauling from the forwards.

This provided the platform for number 8 Stefan Hill-Beirne to break off and burst through a tackle and across the line for Sligo’s second try of the day.  Darragh Cummings then converted the try to make it another 7 pointer.

Sligo didn’t hold back using the ball with width and creating space, stretching An Gaeltacht defence producing a gap for centre Paul Kilcoyne to burst through and score Sligo’s third try.

An Gaeltacht replied with a try of their own and converted it making it 19-10 with five minutes until half time.

Sligo weren’t finished yet and Darragh Cummings slipped away for his second try to make it 24-10 at half time.

The second half was a tough affair with the Sligo backs working hard on the defensive again.  Lee McMarrow showed his pace and the fullback scored his first try in the corner.  Sligo Captain Liam McElhinney lead by example with some strong tackling.

The elusive Ryan Feehily side stepped his way over the line for his try to make it 34-10.

An Gaeltacht replied with a strong try to let Sligo know that the game wasn’t over yet.  Sligo was put on the back foot with some strong running from An Gaeltacht.

Replacement TJ Forde announced his arrival with the tackle of the day – a bone crunching try saver to stop the big number 8 from An Gaeltacht in his tracks.

Sligo picked it up gear with a fantastic fifteen man effort letting the ball flow freely and giving Jack Cox space to sprint over the line for Sligo’s last try of the day.

An Gaeltacht closed the game with a try and a conversion making it 39-22 and capping off a great display of rugby, which the players and supporters enjoyed immensely.