Boys U14 Connacht Div 1 League Final

Creggs RFC 19
Carrick-on-Shannon 17

In a game played in good spirit by both teams, Creggs snatched victory in the last minute of the Connacht Under 14 Boys Division 1 Final played at Creggs on Saturday, 11th January.
With a frozen pitch at a neutral venue two weeks in a row, Carrick-on-Shannon RFC’s Under 14 Boys travelled to Creggs to play their Division 1 Final on Saturday. The match was played in near perfect weather conditions on Creggs’s 4G pitch – a perfect venue for a Final despite home advantage to Creggs.
Carrick started strong with pressure from their kick off to Creggs, which yielded possession to Carrick who set up two phases from strong forward ball carrying for the backs to score in the corner within the first 2 minutes of the match.
Carrick’s backs were clinical in their ball distribution and – attack and scored a brilliant try to lead 0-10 with less than 10 minutes on the clock.
With Carrick’s flyhalf, after a line break that set up the first try of the match, he came off after the second try by Carrick of the match Carrick.
Creggs scored their only try in the first half from a good spell of forward play, which saw Carrick’s lead being reduced to 7-10.
Carrick answered with another try after more quick ball from the forwards and brilliant attack by the backs to extend Carrick’s lead to 7-17.
Carrick dominated the remainder of the first half, crossing the line again, but deemed to be held up. Another effort by Carrick’s forwards on the last play of the second half saw Carrick being tackled out before crossing the line. Despite these two missed scoring opportunities Carrick looked comfortable with a lead of 7-17.
Despite a strong performance by Carrick in the first half, they could not gather any sort of momentum in the second half with their efforts rewarded with penalties against them. From another penalty, Creggs scored a converted try to reduce Carrick’s lead to 14-17.
Despite the penalty count and a yellow card against Carrick, Carrick still had a lead with only a few minutes to go. But again, penalty after penalty saw Creggs in Carrick’s 22 and Creggs, who did not give up after countless efforts by their forwards to cross the line, eventually crossed over to win the Final 19-17 in the last minute of the game. Congratulations to Creggs boys, who played the game in good spirits – well done!
Commiserations to Carrick-on-Shannon’s Under 14 Boys, the first Carrick-on-Shannon RFC team to have ever played in a Division 1 Final – we are extremely proud of you!

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