Sligo RFC U18s edge into the final with one point to spare

CORRIB RFC SLIGO RFC 16 17

LAST Sunday in Corrib Sligo’s next crop of senior players edged themselves into a Connacht Final against Connacht League winners Creggs.

Sligo lost the toss, meaning they were going to have to play into a strong gale in the second half.

The first half was extremely tight with both defences really impressing.

Two moments of brilliance led to both scores. First up it was Corrib to cross the line.

Their big no.10, who had been so influential in the drawn game the week before, sold a dummy, broke the line close to the Sligo end and put his full back in under the posts, he converted to make it 7-0.

This was the wakeup call Sligo needed and almost straight away, they took the fight to the Corrib line.

After exerted pressure and strong carries from Ciaran Cummins, Jamie O’Carroll and Gary Golden, the dynamic Robbie Ryan showed brilliant footwork, determination, and pace to beat three defenders and go in under the posts.

Sligo converted to leave it locked at 7points each at half time.

The second half began as frantic and as the first, with both teams landing heavy body blows to the opposition.

After some great work between the Sligo backs, Luke Hogg and James McDonagh linked up to put Robbie Ryan into a gap on the half way line.

Robbie put the afterburners on and backed himself to make the line with four defenders chasing him.

This put Sligo up 14-7. With a strong wind behind them, and as Sligo began to tire and give away penalties, Corrib kept chipping away with 3pointers putting them into a 16-14 lead, with only minutes left to go.

Sligo refused to die, and after a massive turnover from Taylor Anderson and work from Donnacha Byrne and Brian West, they won the ball back one last time and worked their way into the Corrib 22.

Phase after phase, after phase, Corrib finally wilted, going off their feet and giving away a penalty to the left of the post.

Up stepped Hubert Gilvary and, deep into injury time and into a savage wind, drilled the 3points home to send his team into the Connacht Final this Sunday.

This was a great team performance with Shaun Cawley, Ronan Mc Goldrick, Conor McElligott and Rett Solano really stepping up when the going was tough.

This was a massive win for Captain Brendan Cunningham and Coach Adrian McHale’s men and this week’s final promises to be dynamite!