U15'S Keep Pedal To The Metal

Ballina 80-7 Castlebar

On a beautiful day in Attymass the U15 team turned up to play their running brand of rugby and it paid off handsomely as they retained their spot at the top of the table and put Castlebar to the sword.
There had only been seven points between the sides in their previous meeting but Ballina are improving at every turn and dominated Saturday's match from start to finish.
It's difficult to write a report when the final score reads 80-7 and when two players score most of the points but this wasn’t a game won by a handful, it was won by a team relying on skill, speed, determination, imagination and support.
After a number of weeks focusing on rucking and counter rucking, Ballina put this to good use and scored at will while defending with ferocity .
Straight from the kick-off Ciarn Boland gathered the ball and took off like a boy possessed, driving, jinking and out-sprinting the opposition to score to the right of the post after only 20 seconds.
This set the tone for the rest of the game as Alex Hennigan crossed the whitewash four times, Sam Casllinan five times while Liam Golden and Harry West sccored one try apiece.
All but one of these tries were converted.
Castlebar tried hard but it was hard to compete against the rampant home side. However, they did score one well-worked try midway through the second half but that was their only reprieve.
All replacements were used on the day and got at least 20 minutes of game time.
The boys are now half way through the league and the Moy boys are top of the table. The next game is a return fixture against Sligo, who will be out for revenge after an earlier reversal, but as long as Ballina keep applying themselves and stay focused they should go far.

BALLINA: Daniel Boland, Darragh Walsh, Patrick Morrin (c), Sean Murphy, Jack Gawley, Alex Hennigan, Ciaran Boland, Hedd Morgan, Iarla Quinn, Harry West, Kian Meryeink, Sam Callinan, Liam Golden, Mark Barrett, Paul Brennan
Replacements: Liam Connor, Eoin Fox, Aaron O’Malley, Harry Regan, Cormac Jackson