A TOUGH RESULT FOR TEENAGERS IN JUNIOR FINAL
Connacht Schools Rugby Junior ‘A’ Cup Final
Sligo Grammar School Marist College
Kevin Egan 14 22
JUST as Marist College failed to derail Sligo Grammar School’s bid to win a third Connacht Schools Senior ‘A’ Cup title in succession, Sligo Grammar’s Juniors found the going that little bit too tough in the curtain raiser fixture last Wednesday afternoon at Dexcom Stadium in Galway, eventually falling short by eight points, 22-14, against Athlone’s Marist College, who were playing in their third consecutive Junior ‘A’ Cup final.
It was a game that was there for the taking for long stretches for Sligo Grammar. They were always in contention, but never in control. This fixture also doubled as the Connacht Schools Junior ‘A’ League final replay, with Sligo Grammar and Marist College having drawn 12-12 in that showdown last December.
“If you’re a neutral watching the game, we just got beaten by a better team. That was a huge hurdle for our guys, we had no excuses on the day,” said Sligo Grammar coach Simon Galvan, before he sounded a note of optimism about the school’s prospects in the same competition in 2025.
“That whole backline will be back next year, bar one player, and a year at this age makes a huge difference, it is asking a lot for a 14 or 15-yearold to match up with a 16-year-old.
“A good few of the forwards are 15 as well. Hopefully next year the majority of this Marist team will move on and we’ll still have the majority of our team and it’ll be our year.
“They were just big and physical compared to ours. Boys grow really rapidly at that age, so they were the better side but I would be confident that the majority of this group will come back.
“Some of our guys have only been playing rugby for two years, so they’ll come on a lot for this,” he said. They won’t have to come on that much to be a very powerful force, just some tinkering around the fringes would do. In some sectors, they were little short of outstanding, particularly the Jasper GimenaKelvin Kalu combination in the centre, and the front row, where Sam Carnegie was the star and the battering ram in a very effective unit.
But Marist showed a little bit of extra rugby craft, and a little bit more back up to help their stars. One of those stars was full-back Philip Finan, who won his second Junior ‘A’ Cup medal after playing a part in Marist’s win between these two sides in 2022. However last Wednesday he had to cede ‘Player of the Match’ honours to his younger brother John, who was a constant force on and off the ball while operating from the back row.
John’s steal of a Sligo Grammar possession within 10 metres of the Marist goal-line was the first big play of the game, closely followed by an incredible hit by Jasper Gimena on Philip Finan, but, in general, the play was high tempo, hard hitting, and played between the 22s, awaiting that moment of magic to open things up.
That moment arrived with halftime looming when Marist’s Alex Connor galloped in for the opening score after hard carries brought the winners’ backs into play.
One magic moment immediately sparked another. Ronan Mullan’s hanging restart invited Kelvin Kalu to soar up into the clouds out of traffic and claim possession, putting Sligo Grammar on the front foot immediately. Three phases later,
Sam Carnegie crashed over the line, Ronan Mullan added the extra points and the contest was finely poised at 7-7 at the interval.
John Finan opened the scoring in the second-half and Sligo Grammar’s Sam Carnegie responded in kind to make it 14-14 early in the second-half, but instead of powering on to rack up the points, the two defences stepped up, with tension increasing accordingly as this final came closer and closer to the point where one score was likely to claim the silverware.
Thomas Cotton’s penalty with a little over 10 minutes left looked like it might be that score, but really the winning of the game was Marist’s ability to deny Sligo Grammar any advance territory for the remainder, dictating the terms until Darragh Murray concluded the scoring with a stoppage time try.
Sam Carnegie Kenneth Kalu; Seán Cashell, Kelvin Kalu, Jasper Gimena (c), Seán Duffy; Luke O’Connor, Matthew O’Grady; Reuben Galvan, Sam Carnegie (2 tries), Cathal Moffatt; Jack Kells, Reece Hill; Ronan Mullan (2 cons), Aaron Martin, Alastair Hewson
Replacements used: Ollie Isherwood for Sean Duffy (3); Shane Murtagh for Ollie Isherwood (60+4)
Replacements not used: Arran O’Donoghue Symmons, Evan Barrett O’Neill, Darragh Moran, Tristian Kelly, Theo Gately, Harry Lewis, James Whelan, Patrick Ryan Jones
Phillip Finnan; Alex Connor (1 try), Darragh Glennon,
Oisín O’Donoghue, Andrew Cotton (one pen, two cons); Darragh Murray (1 try), Owen Egan; Hugo Hannon, James Kelly, Ciarán West; Peter Bourke, Evin Claffey; Joseph McSharry, John Finnan (1 try), Reuben Colleran
Replacements used: Jimmy Walshe for Ciaran West (59); Brian Rourke for Joseph McSharry (59); Senan Nugent for Alex Connor (60+4); Jacob Bourke for Andrew Cotton (60+4)
Referee: Siobhán Daly