Sligo beat Castlebar XV
ON a beautiful sun- blessed afternoon under the shadow of Knocknahjrea, Sligo Development team took to the field in search of a fourth win against a very strong Castlebar XV in the J1b Connacht League.
Sligo had a minutes silence to remember the late great Anthony Foley, RIP who had been a guest at their Annual Dinner in 2008.
It was to be a game of two halves with Sligo starting strong and forcing the play well into Castlebar’s territory. Sligo’s pack were the stronger with Jake Sexton, Shane Mitchell and the ever young Aaron Tansey at the fore and forced a penalty off a Castlebar scrum which was going backwards and upwards . A quick tap penalty from the ever alert Stewart O’Brien passing to Enda Gavin linking up with a marauding Thomas Gormley who threw a pass to Gary ( Pony) Conneely then out to Donal Brady who duly touched down in the corner for a well earned try. The try was not converted leaving Sligo 5 - nil up at half time
It was evident that both sides were defensively very strong and in the second half Sligo were under a constant threat of Castlebar breaking their defensive line, but every Sligo player to a man soaked up the pressure and managed to keep them out. Castlebar had far greater possession of the ball but were unable to convert it into scores . Sligo managed a number of attacks with their pacey backs Sean Mullan and Clive Morris linking up well to give both Brian Mullan and Matt Kavanagh some incisive runs but at times the final pass or a heavy tackle from Castlebar put an end to any Sligo momentum. Sligo survived massive pressure in the final 10 minutes to hold on to the win .
It is games like this when all players have to stand up and be counted that leads to a more cohesive group with a strong self belief. The coaching team of Paddy Pearson and Roger Burrows will surely be happy with this start to the season especially after such a game, as Pearson expects massive commitment from his players .
Next Sunday Sligo Development Team travel to Ballyhaunis for their 6th game of the season, hoping this momentum continues . Sligo Development: 1) Thomas Gormley 2) A Kerr 3) A Tansey 4) Shane Mitchell 5) M Mcmorrow 6) Cian Hough 7) Gary Conneely 8) Jake Sexton 9) Stuart O’Brien 10) Enda Gavin 11) Brian Mullen 12) Sean Mullin13 ) Matt Kavanagh 14) D Brady 15) Clive Morris 16) James Tansey 17 ) Gerard Keaney 18) M Healy 19) Mark Gerraghty
20) Gary Boland.