Positives for a delighted head coach

PADDY Pearson, the New Zealander who has become an adopted Sligo man, summed up the jubilant mood at Hamilton Park on Saturday last.

The head coach of the Sligo Rugby Club senior men’s team, pictured, was chuffed following the 34-12 defeat of Buccaneers, with Sligo in control against opponents who are higher up in the Energia AllIreland League.

He said: “I think this is another special day for the club – and, thankfully, they just keep coming.

All the hard work has paid off for this group. It was going to be tough for them to follow up [that win over

Instonians] and that was always going to be the biggest challenge for us.”

“It was flat and scrappy early on but we ended up controlling the game. We also had a strong bench so that meant the likes of Kuba [Wojtkowicz] and Hubert [Gilvarry] were coming on. They are hard to handle at the best of times but they were coming on after 40 minutes against a tired team.

Twelve months ago Sligo lost 15-8 to Buccaneers in the Connacht Senior Cup final at The Sportsground. Lessons have been learned since then according to Pearson.

“We knew our discipline had to improve – it cost us the game last year, rightly or wrongly. We told the lads that if we kept our discipline that they [Buccaneers] wouldn’t be able to break down our defence.”

Sligo humbled Buccaneers at the same venue last September – a 49-17 result that clinched the Connacht Senior League title – but Pearson maintained that last Saturday’s rematch was an entirely different scenario.

“We know that the Connacht Senior Cup is a step up from the Connacht Senior League – so it was about us performing and keeping our discipline. They started the second-half really well, they picked up the intensity and we just had to keep our heads.”

Meanwhile, Sligo return to Energia AllIreland League action on Saturday week, March 23, when they are away to Dublin club Wanderers (Merrion Road, 2.30pm). Wanderers are second in the standings and Sligo are fourth.