Energia All-Ireland League Sligo show style against Skerries
Energia All-Ireland League Division 2B – Round 11 Sligo Rugby Club Skerries 29 5
ASUPERB attacking performance, with five tries warming the delighted home fans at Hamilton Park, saw Sligo power to a 29-5 defeat of Skerries in last Saturday’s Energia All-Ireland Division 2B fixture.
This excellent win, which earned a try bonus point, keeps Sligo in fourth place – the last play-off position – with seven games left.
Having come into this game with four wins from 10 games, Sligo needed a result here – this is their first victory of 2024 and a first win in this season’s Energia All-Ireland since December 2.
Sligo drew with Skerries, 14-14, when the sides met at Holmpatrick, Dublin, last month and so had a score to settle – especially as they threw away a 14-0 interval lead in that windswept fixture.
STANDINGS
Instonians Wanderers Corinthians Sligo Rainey Dungannon Malahide Skerries Harlequins Dolphin
D 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 1 0
Well-worked tries from Finn Bamber, Hubert Gilvarry, Kuba Wojtkowicz, Philip Carter and Brendan Cunningham were the scores that brought the crowd to their feet last Saturday afternoon on a pitch that showed on ill-effects from recent snow and frost.
Sligo’s second try, which featured a deft offload from Finn Bamber to Hubert Gilvarry, was certainly worthy of being a TikTok video.
Also noteworthy was Sligo’s defensive work that kept Skerries scoreless in the second-half. Sligo were 12-5 ahead at half-time. Eoghan Lang, 19, a tighthead prop made his AIL debut for Sligo.
Sligo away this Saturday – they take on Belfast Harlequins at Deramore Park (2.30pm). The reverse fixture, which was played at Hamilton Park last month, resulted in a one-point win for Sligo, 21-20.
Harlequins are currently second from bottom in the standings, having won just twice in 11 games.
Their eighth loss of the 2023-24 season was last Saturday’s 34-17 away loss to Wanderers, who have moved up to second in the table behind the unbeaten Instonians.
F A Diff BP 569 218 351 11 429 236 193 11 337 146 191 8 267 247 20 9 281 332 -51 9 231 239 -8 9 205 316 -111 4 178 330 -152 1 222 378 -156 5 197 474 -277 3
Sligo Rugby Club senior men’s team (v Skerries): Hubert Gilvarry (1 try),
Finn Bamber (1 try), Ethan Faitaua, Ryan Feehily, Philip Carter (1 try), Euan Brown (1 con), Brendan Cunningham (1 try), Kuba Wojtkowicz, Ben Hynes, Tom Gormley, Archie Maclean, Ciaran Cummins, Brian West, James O’Hehir (1 try), Ambrose Bamber
Replacements: Matthew Earley, Eoghan Lang, Rob Tiernan, Daire Byrne, Julian Leszczynski (1 con)
Corinthians doubled their advantage before the break.
Sligo were still hopeful, however, a third try for the eventual winners, who scored minutes into the second-half, proved a sucker punch and left Sligo 19 points behind.
The finalists were camped in the Corinthians half for the remainder but couldn’t fashion a breakthrough as Corinthians defended stoutly.
Allan Smyth, Rossa Fayne, Conor Monaghan, Ruairi McLoughlin, Sam Carnegie, Aron Martin, Tomas Keane, Sean Cashell,
Evan Barett O’Neill, Lochlan Smyth, Luke O’Connor, Sean McGettrick, Charlie Harte, Jake Davey, Billy Filan, Jamie Boland, James Whelan, Manus McManus