Crucial win for seniors at home
SLIGO gained four vital league points in their quest for Ulster Bank League survival when they defeated a lively Boyne outfit in a thrilling encounter at Strandhill on Saturday. Tries from Mark Rooney, Conor Kerins and Ciaran Cassidy coupled with a flawless display of place kicking from Jack Keegan secured the points for the home team despite a late surge from the visitors. Playing towards the airport end and into the breeze in the first half, Sligo had to withstand early pressure from the visitors and found themselves trailing by six points after twenty- five minutes following two well taken penalties. Sligo responded and worked their way into the Boyne half with some strong driving forward play with Matthew Cosgrove and Shane Boyle prominent. The pressure was rewarded with a penalty on the half hour and Keegan stepped up and bisected the posts with an excellent strike. Boyne hit back immediately with another well struck kick but Sligo struck a major blow by taking a lead that was never relinquished just before the break. Some fine driving play saw Sligo set up camp inside the Boyne 22 and the Sligo pressure forced an infringement in the Boyne defence in front of the posts. The penalty was taken quickly and moved to the right and Kerins forced his way through to touch down out wide. Keegan’s excellent conversion gave Sligo a one point lead going in to the interval. It was more of the same following the resumption with the Sligo pack gaining the edge on the Drogheda eight. Conor Mitchell, Shane O’Hehir and Jamie Bowes did sterling work at the scrum in providing an attacking platform and Ryan Feehily’s crisp service at the base kept the tempo up for the home outfit. Five minutes into the half Sligo moved further ahead when more fine driving play allowed the backline the space to go wide and Rooney used his power and pace to get over the line. Keegan again converted with a well struck kick to push Sligo into a 17 points to 9 lead. Sligo’s purple patch continued when they moved into a fifteen point lead on the hour. A fine driving maul forced the visitors back and Cassidy took full advantage to notch up Sligo’s third try. Keegan kept his 100% record intact with another well taken conversion. Boyne stormed back at Sligo and a try after 65 minutes shortened the Sligo lead to 10 points. Boyne continued to press and with a minute left on the clock Sligo were forced to concede a penalty try leaving just three points between the teams. This was to be the last score of the match as the referee blew the long whistle not long after the restart. Next up for Sligo is a trip south to lock horns with Kanturk RFC. Sligo have two games left in the League campaign and a positive result from both games would go a long way towards securing UBL status. The match against Kanturk is fixed for the 26th of March. If anyone is interested in travelling to support Sligo for that match contact Michael at 0868198540 to book a place. SLIGO: Conor Kerins, Enda Gavin, Matt Davey, Daire Byrne, Mark Rooney, Jack Keegan, Jamie Bowes, Shane O’Hehir, Conor Mitchell ( Captain) James Wilson, Ciaran Cassidy, Shane Boyle, Simon Coulter, Matthew Cosgrove. Reps Keith McGloin, Christian Carroll, Ross Mannion, Luke Nicholson, Aaron Tansey.