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U-18.5 Boys beat Tuam and are crowned League champions
Michael Gallagher8 Mar - 20:43
Tuam 7-36 Ballina
On a sticky track with a sharp wind at their back in the first half, Ballina’s U18.5 boys came out the right side of a feisty clash with Tuam in their final league game, to win the title.
The visitors set out their stall early and capitalised on some good set up play by the pack, which allowed Luke Langan to cross for the opening try after four minutes, duly converted by Tom Ruane.
However, the tenacity of the home defence in the face of relentless Ballina pressure meant that despite many forays into the home 22 by Ballina, it took another 15 minutes for the visitors to register their second try, and what a try it was.
Tom Ruane, prominent throughout the afternoon, chipped a glorious ball over the cover defence and ran on to outpace the home defenders for a marvellous and merited score. Ballina were getting to grips with the vagrancies of both the wind and the home defence and drove home their wind assisted advantage with three quickfire tries from Fionn Cosgrove, Adam Foody and Anthony Neary who finished a flowing move with a dot down in the left corner, to leave the Moysiders with a 31-0 lead at the break.
Undeterred and with the wind in their favour in the second half, Tuam roared out of the blocks and posted a very well worked converted try to register their first points of the day.
Both teams met fire with fire as the hosts looked to utilise the wind to add to their tally. To their credit, Ballina kept their discipline and covered the backfield excellently, snuffing out the danger from the hosts' kicking game.
Ballina found renewed vigour and purpose as the half wore on and Tom Ruane followed up his kick through the home cover to register Ballina’s sixth try and effectively end the contest.
Ballina managed the game to its conclusion and celebrated a hard fought but deserved victory with a pitch side rendition of the club anthem – The Boys from the County Mayo.
What stood out today, was the grit and determination of the boys, their will to win and the collective effort. All players played their part, but special mentions go to Oisin Breslin who was a tour de force in the lineout and loose, Cian Fitzpatrick who played a captain’s part with line breaks and excellent cover at ruck time, Tom Ruane who yet again displayed excellent instinct to create and score two tries and John Langan, who time and again carried to great effect, creating a platform for the Ballina attacks. Our thanks to our U17’s Jamie, Charlie and Jack who came onboard on this special day.
Well done to all involved.
The visitors set out their stall early and capitalised on some good set up play by the pack, which allowed Luke Langan to cross for the opening try after four minutes, duly converted by Tom Ruane.
However, the tenacity of the home defence in the face of relentless Ballina pressure meant that despite many forays into the home 22 by Ballina, it took another 15 minutes for the visitors to register their second try, and what a try it was.
Tom Ruane, prominent throughout the afternoon, chipped a glorious ball over the cover defence and ran on to outpace the home defenders for a marvellous and merited score. Ballina were getting to grips with the vagrancies of both the wind and the home defence and drove home their wind assisted advantage with three quickfire tries from Fionn Cosgrove, Adam Foody and Anthony Neary who finished a flowing move with a dot down in the left corner, to leave the Moysiders with a 31-0 lead at the break.
Undeterred and with the wind in their favour in the second half, Tuam roared out of the blocks and posted a very well worked converted try to register their first points of the day.
Both teams met fire with fire as the hosts looked to utilise the wind to add to their tally. To their credit, Ballina kept their discipline and covered the backfield excellently, snuffing out the danger from the hosts' kicking game.
Ballina found renewed vigour and purpose as the half wore on and Tom Ruane followed up his kick through the home cover to register Ballina’s sixth try and effectively end the contest.
Ballina managed the game to its conclusion and celebrated a hard fought but deserved victory with a pitch side rendition of the club anthem – The Boys from the County Mayo.
What stood out today, was the grit and determination of the boys, their will to win and the collective effort. All players played their part, but special mentions go to Oisin Breslin who was a tour de force in the lineout and loose, Cian Fitzpatrick who played a captain’s part with line breaks and excellent cover at ruck time, Tom Ruane who yet again displayed excellent instinct to create and score two tries and John Langan, who time and again carried to great effect, creating a platform for the Ballina attacks. Our thanks to our U17’s Jamie, Charlie and Jack who came onboard on this special day.
Well done to all involved.
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