Match Poster

The clothes collection will be ending this Saturday and the re-cycle truck will be picking up all remaining clothing from the Rugby Club next week.

If you have any items of clothing please ensure to drop them off at the Rugby Club this Saturday.

Sligo Rugby Club presents TAKE ME OUT on the 10th of February in the Sligo Park hotel! There will be over 25 hot, single girls from all around Sligo there who are ready to find love. Door for the show open at 7.30pm and the single ladies will take to the stage ready for their first potential date at 8.30pm. The one and only DJ Scruffy Duffy will guide our take me out guys through the rounds that might secure them the lovely lady that they have so often dreamed about.

Make sure you are there to witness this unforgettable show. And for those girls who didn’t find love on the show, they might have better luck at the McHugh’s after party, which promises to keep the take me out spirit alive as the night continues!

Tickets for the much anticipated show are €15, and €20 on the night.Tickets are available at the Sligo Rugby Club, Bernie’s Beauty Salon and the Record Room in Sligo town. There are a limited amount of tickets so get yours early- as they are expected to sell out.

If there are any single guys or gals who would like to take part on the show. Please get in contact on the Sligo RFC Take me out Facebook page or call 087-2406834.

Sligo RFC will be hosting a fundraising auction in the Glasshouse hotel on Sunday the 19th of February. The auction committee, led by George Draper, is busily collecting lots to go under the hammer! Antiques, Curiosities, Sports memorabilia, vouchers, and work pledges are all suitable for the event. There will also be a bric-or-brac stand at the auction for all number of items.

If you would like to donate to the bric-a-brac or the auction please email sligorugby@gmail.com or contact George Draper on 087 245 1570.

Sunday 22nd January was going to be a mucky affair following the heavy rain in the early hours of the morning and Cavan ladies were going to put up a fight with both teams out to prove their worth coming from defeats from the weekend before. Sligo started on defence with Cavan coming at them. A tackle from Sligo caused a fumble from Cavan and it was a scrum for Sligo and here began Sligo’s onslaught, defending their home territory. Sligo’s power and pace opened up gaps on the wing and Nicole Fowley returning at outhalf, feeding the wing some great ball, allowing Claire McManus to out run the Enniskillen defense from the 10metre and slide home with a try to the right of the posts. Fowley converts and the score is 7-0 to Sligo.

Cavan continued to threaten the Sligo try line when they got a scrum on Sligo 10metre but Sligo’s defence held them off, kicking it clear for a lineout outside Sligo’s 22. Sligo’s defensive line out was strong throughout the game, with the return of Laura Feely lifting at the front, and Lisa Moore, lifting at three, Grainne Mcguire was getting great air, creating a constant threat to Cavan’s attacking lineouts. 30 minutes in to the half on a Cavan line out, McGuire managed to force a fumble from Cavan, so prop Lisa Duffy could get the loose ball and win the ball back for Sligo. With some assertive rucking, Sligo managed to move through several phases, which created space on the left wing so backs could do some damage and allow full back Lauren McGee through for the second try. No conversion so the score was now 12-0 to Sligo.

In the dying minutes of the first half, Sligo remained strong and hit Cavan hard, pushing them on to their try line. Mairead Keane was eventually rewarded with a try when she burst through the Cavan defense to secure a 17-0 lead going into half time.

Cavan came into the second half strong, they hit Sligo like a tonne of bricks. Within 10 minutes they threatened a try in the left corner, only to knock it on, presenting Sligo’s scrumhalf Jackie Caraway an opportunity to kick for touch off the scrum. Pressure was off Sligo again.

Sligo showed some great attacking play, with a maul driven over the try line which was held up by Cavan. Laura Feely was also held up on the line when she ran from the back of a 5m scrum minutes later in an attempt to burst through the Cavan defense. Sligo’s forwards really did showcase their strength, both mentaly and physically, constantly going for the big hits, getting up and going for it again. Of particular note was forward Lorraine Lynch’s catch and run in to contact, crashing the ball and presenting great ball for the scrumhalf. Also, around the 25th minute, Fleur Kinsella at left wing showed some deft manourverability, leaving 4 Cavan player in the mud, before being taken to ground just before the try line. She aint tall, she aint small, but she’s handy and not to be messed with!

30 minutes in Caraway got some quick ball of a ruck just right of centre to Fowley who got it 2 jacqui mulligan, making her patented dash for the gap and make it for the final try of the match bringing the final score of the game 22-0. Let’s just say after that performance, Sligo will want to show City of Derry in their away game in Derry next Sunday that they may be a young club, but don’t under estimate us.

Team:
Forwards – Therese Cosgrove, Michelle Byrne, Lisa Duffy, Grainne McGuire, Lisa Moore, Niamh Connolly, Imelda McNulty, Laura Feely, Olive McTague, Siobhan Kilcoyne, Steph Savage, Lorraine Lynch and Orlaith Furey.
Backs – Jackie Caraway, Nicole Fowley, Mairead Keane, Jacqui Mulligan, Fleur Kinsella, Claire McManus, Ruth Feeney, Carley Leyden, Rachael Gordan and Lauren McGee.

Shortly after that with great rucking from Sligo’s pack and direct running from backs led to a try from centre Paul Kilcoyne who scored his first of the season and converted by Cummins put Sligo 20-7. Very Solid performance from all involved where full panel was used, but needs to improve to be successful in which will be their third final in 3 years.

Team:
Paul Kelly, Neil Muarry, Shane O’Hehir, Cillian Gallagher, Thomas Mulaney, Richard Lang, Dylan Gardner, Hadi Mousa, Ryan Feehily, Darragh Cummins, Nathan Rooney, Paul Kilcoyne, Robert Henry, Odran Byrne-Gildea, T.J Ford.
Subs: Gareth Davey, Emmet Flanagan, Darren O’Hara, Ronan McGurrin, Peter Olyde, Aaron Boals ,Cian Hough, Jack Cox.

After two weeks of pressurized League action, our preparation for the Cup commenced with a friendly against a visiting side from Limavady. In difficult conditions, a largely experimental side, which included seven of our U-17′s who were getting their first taste at this level, played well to overcome their opponents by 12 – Nil at the final whistle.

One try in each half was enough to secure victory even though the second wasn’t secured until the final 10 mins. We took the game to the visitors from the off and once again our pack ‘bossed’ it even if they weren’t perhaps as committed as we have seen during recent league fixtures. This dominance paid off when Eddie Connell crossed for one of his trademark tries which was converted by Gary O’Hehir.

All our 17′s took the field at half time and we reshuffled the team completely. Our back-line had a completely new look to it and while it took a while for the side to settle – which gave Limavady a foothold – and only a super tackle by Matt Mulvaney kept them out after a great break by the visitors. You could see the understanding build as the half progressed. As our confidence grew, the ball was spread wide on a number of occasions and Enda Roche found himself “haring for the line” on three different occasions – the final one he
converted for a well deserved score.

This was a great learning experience for all our players and gave us a chance to try out a number of positional switches. The versatile Sean Donnelly started at scrum-half and began to look more like Stringer as the game progressed! James O’Hehir at hooker, Patrick Saba at blind-side, Karol Devaney at open, Enda Roche at out-half, Gary O’Hehir second centre and James Clarke at full-back were all in new positions with the big St. Pat’s man probably the most impressive as he played well throughout.

Team:
Melly, O’Hehir, McGovern, Davey, Tansey, Saba, Devanney, Connell, Donnelly, Roche, Mullvaney, Finneran, O’Hehir, McGloin, Clarke.
Subs used: Gerrity, Dunne, Zukowski, Burke, Weaver, Cullinane.

Double middle man

Axis

Passing under Pressure

Middle man

Cory Brown
Connacht Coach Development Officer
cory@cbirfu.com
087 19 577 84

Sligo’s resurgence in the Ulster bank league continued in earnest with a well constructed away win at the aptly named Hamilton Park in Newtownards on Saturday. A powerful performance from the Sligo pack coupled with an excellent defensive back line showing ensured that Sligo came away with a precious 4 league points from the days encounter.
Played in calm conditions it was Sligo who took the early initiative and enjoyed the lions share of the possession in the opening exchanges. Sligos front row of Adrian Mc Hale, Gary Conneely and Shane Mc Guinness were solid in the scrum and Peter Mullan and Paddy Conlon were secure at line out time. 
The first scoring opportunity arrived after 15 minutes when Sligo were awarded a penalty following a ruck infringement on the Ards 10 metre line. Daniel Hawkins elected to go for the posts but his effort drifted wide. Four minutes later another penalty award gave Hawkins the opportunity to redeem his earlier miss and the out half bisected the uprights with a well judged effort from wide on the left side. 
Sligo continued to apply the pressure and their well worked maul was causing a lot of difficulty for their hosts. The back row of Rory Kerins , Paddy Conlon and Aidan Mc Nulty were on top at the breakdown and scrum half Billy Leahy was controlling things well from the base. Sligo’s back three of Hugo Laffitte, Cathal Finneran and David Gerrity were dealing well with any arial threat and were countering with purpose.
The opening try arrived on the half hour. A penalty on the 22 was expertly despatched into the corner by Hawkins. Conneely linked with Mullan at the lineout and the maul was immediately constructed. The pack drove over the line and Conlon was on hand to secure the touchdown. Hawkins added the extras.
Ards responded, and a McLean penalty opened their account but Sligo immediately responded  with another well struck Hawkins penalty to move the half time score to 13 points to 3 in favour of the visitors.
The second half saw renewed vigour from the hosts and Sligo’s defensive system was put to the test but good work from Gavin Foley and Matele Fifita ensured that the midfield door remained locked. 
The visitors moved further ahead half way through the second half. An excellent scrum break from Mc Nulty opened up the home defence and the number 8 expertly linked with Fifita. The giant centre brushed off the would be tackler and used his pace to beat the remaining cover to the line for a well worked score. Hawkins again added the extras. 
Ards were stung into life and looked to assert their game on their visitors. Two penalties in quick succession followed by a well taken McLean try brought the match to an exciting conclusion, but Sligo were not to be outdone and it was the travelling support that cheered loudest when the referee brought the game to a close. 
Next Saturday Sligo play host to table topping Cashel RFC. Cashel are unbeaten in the League this season but on current form Sligo are a match for anyone so an exciting game is expected. The match kicks off at 2.30 at Strandhill.
Ards. G Wilson, M McLean, M Taylor, A Hazzard, N Beggs, P Cox, M Banford, M Weir, C Piper, J Wylie, D Calvert, J Mc Carvey, M Harrison, N McMillan, S Minnis. Reps B Diver, M Busby, J Dawson, J Dowey, A Foster.
Sligo. D Gerritty, H Laffite, M Fifita, G Foley, C Finneran, D Hawkins, B Leahy, A McHale, G Conneely, S McGuinness, J Bowes, P Mullan, P Conlon, R Kerins, A Mc Nulty. Reps. R Mannion, B Keane, D Heath, A Williams, G O’Hehir.
Ref K Barry (IRFU)