Ballina 25 – Sligo 3

Sligo were dumped out of the Heineken Junior Cup in ignominious fashion by a superb Ballina team this Sunday in Ballina. Sligo had beaten Ballina at home earlier in the season but Ballina were the form team entering the game, and along with home advantage were expected to be a massive challenge for a Sligo team still struggling after the heartbreak of their league campaign. Sligo suffered two huge early blows with the loss of fullback David Gerrity and then towering No.8 Peter Mullan, both through injury.

Ballina took advantage of this to run in two first half-tries while dominating the half with some excellent play from their backs. Sligo’s response was a single penalty to leave the score 15-3 at the break. Sligo played some better rugby early in the 2nd half but they could not turn the pressure into points and wave after wave of Sligo attack was driven back by the determined Ballina defense. With Sligo chasing the game, Ballina were able to counter attack at will, and ran in two further tries to leave the final score 25-3. Ballina were deserving winners, and with a home semi-final they will fancy their chances of Junior Cup success.

[ Match Photos ]