The draw, in which Prizes of €1,000, €500 and €250 are up for grabs, will take place in Mc Hughs Bar Grattan Street Sligo on the evening of the 26th. Some tickets are still available for purchase. For details contact Ross Mannion at the Record Room, Grattan Street, Sligo.

Quality Coaching in a controlled and fun environment focusing on the core skills in 7′s rugby that cross over to the 15 aside game. 45 minutes of training followed by 45 minutes playing. Players don’t need to be part of a team – just turn up and join in!

Please note that there’s a €5 per session cost

As Irish rugby grows ever more in popularity, Bud Light Tag, the IRFU’s official Tag Rugby programme is enjoying similar heights in popularity as teams get set for the season ahead with new venues opening up all over Ireland. One of the these Bud Light Tag venues is SLIGO RFC where team registrations have now gone live online.

This venue can boast top class pitch and changing facilities, top referees and the best venue managers around. At only €495 per team, registration works out at less than a fiver per player during the nine-week season.

Taking place every Thursday from May 13^th all mixed social grades are be catered for from A level to Beginners over 11 weeks of the summer until Finals Night on Friday July 23^rd. The Mixed Social leagues will fill up very quickly given the activity going on right now. Throughout the season the club will run special social events and promotion nights, details of which will be announced late April/early May.

The aim of Bud Light Tag, the IRFU’s official Tag Rugby programme is to provide a non-contact form of rugby for both men and women of all abilities to be played at first-class rugby facilities, officiated by IRFU-trained referees and professionally organised by the governing body of rugby in Ireland. All in a fun-filled atmosphere exemplifying exactly what the phrase ‘A Game of Two Halves’ means.

To see more about Bud Light Tag, click HERE to view a clip from RTE’s RBS Six Nations coverage aired Saturday February 27^th.

Registrations are carried out online on the Bud Light Tag website (www.irfutag.ie) and to ensure a team place, register now to avoid disappointment. For further information, send an email to tag@irishrugby.ie

On the 7th of March, on a day with conditions perfect for rugby, Sligo U-16s took on Ballinrobe U-17s at Ballinrobe Racecourse in the Under 17 Plate.

Sligo started well and scored with Diarmuid O Dowd-Hill on the sixth minute after great pressure from Sligo. Enda Gavin stepped up to take the kick 5 meters out from the touchline, but missed the difficult conversion. Ballinrobe quickly responded with a try against the run of play, conversion was missed by the Ballinrobe 10. After sustained pressure from the  Sligo team, a gap was made and Eddie Connell capitalised and touched it down underneath the posts. the conversion was easily taken by Enda Gavin which put sligo up by 7 points with a score of 12-5 to Sligo.

In the second half Sligo upped their game and with great pressure from the pack and the back line constantly breaking the gain line which always gave Sligo the upper hand in this match.

The third Sligo try came from a fantastic rolling maul from the Sligo pack, which set Diarmuid O’ Dowd-Hill
for a try under the posts, conversion was put over once again by Enda Gavin.

Shortly after the restart Sligo were on Ballinrobe’s line again. The Sligo forwards took the ball on picking and driving up to the 5 meter line then Jamie Mc Goveren picked and powered over the line for Sligo’s fourth try. Enda once again stepped up and scored the conversion. 5minutes later the Sligo pack were on the Ballinrobe line again and this time it was  James Mc Gwynne powered over the line for a try. Then Ballinrobe had their own spell and Sligo couldn’t keep them out which resulted in a  7 pointerfor Ballinrobe.  Sligo quickly regained their dominance though and Eddie Connell cut in from the wing to score a try which left Ballinrobe heads down. In the final minutes of the game, at the half way line Ballinrobe conceded a penatly which was taken quickly and the ball sent out to he centre Enda Roche and with his dancing feet found the gap to score under the posts, which was easily converted and brought the game to close with final score 45-12.

Although Sligo dominated their elders their performance left much to be desired with poor tackling often. There were also many positives from this game with Fabian  Zwada making a lot of ground with the ball in hand. Sligo made many changes during this match but still they maintained their strangle hold on the game with no player playing poorly but still Sligo can still improve.

1. Jamie McGovern, 2. Matt Davey, 3.Fabian Zwada, 4. Niall O Rurke, 5.Diarmuid O Dowd Hill, 6. Callum Mc Loughlin, 7. James O Hehir, 8. Eddy Connel, 9. Ross Gordon, 10. Enda Gavin, 11.Darragh Burke, 12. Sean Finnegan, 13. Enda Roache, 14. Cian Mulligan, 15. Coner Kerins.

Subs. Patrick Saba, Karol Devaney, Aaron Donnellan, Gabriel Knect, Tadgh Cadden, Eoin Kilroy-Talbot, James Mc Gwynne.

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.

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.