Sligo 0 Monivea 0
The highly anticipated clash between the top two in JL1 ended in a fiercely contested 0-0 draw in dreadful conditions in Hamilton Park, Strandhill on Sunday.
A massive crowd saw too excellent junior sides battle the elements as well as each other to produce a gritty but entertaining contest. Monivea came to Sligo intent on delivering a first league defeat to the home side, signaling their intent by traveling down the night before the game.
Sligo coach Joe Walsh chose to shuffle his pack for the key encounter with Jamie Bowes returning from injury to take his place in the second row, with Peter Mullan moving to number eight. Warner Wilders retained his place at scrum-half, with Ted Mulvaney returning from injury to start on the wing.
In dreadful conditions with the pitch cutting up underfoot due to the lashing rain the game was destined to be a titanic struggle with free flowing rugby virtually impossible. Sligo shaded the early encounters with flanker Matalae Fifita inspiring the huge home support with some big hits early on. However it was Monivea who made the first chance of the game when some excellent hands by their backline worked it wide releasing their fullback Ger Divilly down the left and only some scrambling defence from the home side prevented the opening score.
Sligo responded quickly with a long pressure-relieving kick by David Gerrity bringing play back into the Monivea half. Sligo managed to steal the resulting line out and from the maul where awarded a penalty when Monivea infringed. It was going to be a difficult day for the kickers with a strong breeze swirling around, and this effort from 30m out proved to difficult for Gerrity who dragged his effort wide.
Sligo kept the pressure on, and from a scrum 40m out Wilders and Culhane broke down the blindside to bring possession inside the Monivea 22m line. From the ruck Gerrity attempted a drop goal, but his effort was charged down by the alert Monivea defence.
As lightening struck in the stormy sides, the game settled into an intense affair with both sides making very little impact attackwise. Monivea were awarded a penalty with 20 minutes gone, and despite being well struck by their tricky out-half Ger O’Connor it was held up in the wind. However Sligo failed to clear and Monivea managed to win possession deep inside Sligo territory.
This was a crucial period of the game as wave after wave of Monivea attacks hit the Sligo line. With scrum-half Darren Blade orchestrating affairs Monivea’s pack desperately tried to get that all important opening score. However Sligo’s season has been built on stern defence and this was no different as some heroic tackling managed to keep the Galway men out and the knock on after nearly 7 minutes of sustained was greeted with huge cheers by the home support.
Sligo were next to have a chance with Wilders again making a good break before linking up with centre Andrew Feeney. Feeney was tackled well but Monivea infringed at the breakdown giving Gerrity another chance to put Sligo ahead. However he again pushed his kick wide.
Sligo received another chance shortly after when another Monivea infringement led to another kickable opportunity for the home side with only second of the half remaining. Winger Brian Hynes stepped up on this occasion but his kick had neither the distance nor the accuracy and the teams went in at half-time tied 0-0.
It was Monivea who started the second period the stronger which led to an early penalty chance for O’Connor. His kick however lacked conviction and drifted left and wide. Sligo made a mess of the 22 drop out, gifting Monivea with a scrum on Sligo’s 22.
The referee penalised Sligo in the scrum and O’Connor was again given the opportunity to punish Sligo’s slack start to the half. Again his well-struck penalty was marginally off target and the game remained scoreless. Sligo were struck with a tough blow shortly after when star flanker Fifita was sent to the sinbin as his side were punished for some persistent infringing. Monivea made a double substitution with forwards Cathal Divilly and Liam Mitchell called into action as the game looked to be entering a crucial stage.
Sligo appeared to be galvanised by the sinbinning and began to grind their way back into the game. Gerrity made an incisive break from a wayward Monivea kick, before linking up with Andre Taurerewa who drew his man before releasing Hynes. Hynes accelerated down the left touchline and only some desperate tacking from his opposite number stopped the Calry man.
Sligo had really upped the tempo now with the return from the bin of Fifita and their forwards took into Monivea upfront with Peter Mullan and Jamie Bowes to the fore with some superb carries and line-breaks. Sligo introduced Gary Conneely for Ross Mannion as time began to tick away.
Mullan made another good break of a line-out s Sligo desperately sought the score their fans craved. However Monivea to their credit defended superbly with their number eight Owen Rooney immense in defence. With minutes remaining the game was halted momentarily when the referee, Andrew Darcy, picked up an injury and had to be replaced by touch judge Dave O’Brien. Both sides threw everything at each other in the closing stages but the deadlock was not be broken and finally after an epic encounter the referee blew for full-time.
Both coaches would have been delighted with the commitment and spirit shown by their players but both will feel their sides may have done enough to get that crucial victory. For Sligo Peter Mullan starred, both in the tight and loose while scrum-half Warner Wilders was also superb with this strength adding a ninth forward to the Sligo back. For Monivea Owen Rooney and Martin King were everywhere and both sides can take a lot of positives from the result with the JL1 league looking certain to head right down to the wire.
Sligo: David Gerrity, Ted Mulvaney, Brian Hynes, Andre Taurerewa, Andrew Feeney, Gavin Foley, Warner Wilders, Martin Feeney, Adrian McHale, Ross Mannion, James Bowes, James Wilson, Mataelae Fifita, Cathal Culhane, Peter Mullan.
Replacements: Gary Conneely, Billy Leahy, David Greene
Monivea: Ger Divilly, John Culkin, Fergal O’Neill, Pheilim Caolan, Brian McDonagh, Ger O’Connor, Darren Blade, Owen Rooney, Martin King, Pat Fitzmaurice, Shane McHugh, Wille Parker, Fergus Farrell, Pat Devane, Gerard Fitzmaurice.
Replacements: Cathal Divilly, Liam Mitchell, Richie Murray.