Grammar get home advantage after win

posts with just five minutes gone, only to be repelled by some superb last-ditch defending from the Marist, but as a unit the Sligo side kept doing the right things and soon got their breakthrough when Palamarczuk exploded off the base of a ruck to go over with 13 minutes gone.

Some excellent cover from Darragh Feehily and Sean Ndego put pressure on the Marist kicking game and made the home side think twice about just constantly using the boot, but it was in the tight exchanges where the home side finally started to gain some traction.

They exerted real pressure at ruck time and disrupted the Sligo lineout on several key occasions.

A scrum penalty got them off the mark and was soon followed by a drop goal from Roscommon minor footballer Rúaidhrí Fallon, though he was striking with a penalty advantage after another massive lineout claim from Connacht number eight Sam Fogarty set up the Athlone students with strong field position.

For all their set piece strength however, Marist College never had the ball-playing ability of Sligo Grammar school.

Combination work from Fiachra Staunton and Hubert Gilvarry helped to unlock the Marist defence and set the visitors up with another chance to drive over from five metres out, another chance that ultimately was passed up.

Yet even though the 7-6 interval advantage didn’t reflect their dominance, with the wind to come it was still a very healthy position for the side to be in.

That was even healthier when Gilvarry added a penalty for an offside infringement four minutes into the second half, and again Sligo Grammar School piled on the pressure, setting up a further chance when a sensational run from Seán Ndego brought them into the Marist 22, only for Sam Fogarty to rob another lineout and give the Marist a reprieve.

That nagging sense of leaving their opponents in the game would have niggled at the minds of the Sligo Grammar coaches, and it loomed far larger when some poor tackling on the right side allowed prop Lasha Laoshvili make 20 metres of territory, enabling Rúaidhrí Fallon to finish in the corner with his forwards piling in behind him.

To their credit, Sligo Grammar followed up perhaps their weakest spell of the game with their strongest, ensuring that the Marist lead was short-lived.

Gilvarry took control of their kicking game from the centre, judiciously using the boot and asking questions of the Marist back three, and when he chased one of his own kicks and was taken out by Thomas O’Brien, that set up the possession that ended with a forward drive in the right corner and James Whelan putting his name on the scoresheet.

An incredible effort from Hubert Gilvarry on the touchline conversion shaved the post on the wrong side, but when the Connacht U-19 player added the last score of the game from a penalty in the closing minutes, Sligo Grammar had a converted try to spare on the scoreboard.

The Marist needed a seven-pointer, and they never came close.

The standard will certainly rise from here for Sligo Grammar School, regardless of whether it’s Roscommon CBS or Garbally College who are next on the list, but on what they’ve shown so far, the Sligo lads are shaping up nicely and could be ready to surprise a few people next time out.

Scoring Sequence: Kacper Palamarczuk try, Hubert Gilvarry conversion 13 mins, 0-7; Michael Byrne penalty, 3 mins, 3-7; Rúaidhrí Fallon drop goal, 25 mins, 6-7; Hubert Gilvarry penalty, 39 mins, 6-10; Rúaidhrí Fallon try, 50 mins, 11-10; James Whelan try, 56 mins, 11-15; Hubert Gilvarry penalty, 63 mins, 11-18.

MARIST COLLEGE: Thomas O’Brien; Adam Donovan, Michael Byrne, Tom Shine, Nathaniel O’Neill (Lorcan Withers, 67 mins); Rúaidhrí Fallon, Adam Flanagan; Kieran Egan, Koronato Kiripati, Lasha Laoshvili; Ethan Connelly (Joe Henson, 49 mins), Lorcan Fallon; Aaron Burke (Donagh Claffey, 67 mins), Gavin Daly, Sam Fogarty. SLIGO GRAMMAR SCHOOL: Darragh Feehily; Mark McGlynn, Hubert Gilvarry, William Whelan, Sean Ndego; Isaac Ellison, Jacob Fleming; Sean Nee (Tynan Maxwell, 70 mins), James Whelan, Tynan Maxwell (Mark Irwin, 33 mins); David John Barlow, Matthew O’Hara; Fiachra Staunton, Adam Hunter, Kacper Palamarczuk. REFEREE: S. Gaughan (ARCB)

ON WHAT THEY’VE SHOWN SO FAR, THE SLIGO LADS ARE SHAPING UP NICELY AND COULD BE READY TO SURPRISE.