Back
Impressive cup win for U-14 Boys
Michael Gallagher5 Mar 2023 - 22:21
BALLINA 64-12 BALLINASLOE
The Ballina U-14 boys recorded a big win in the first round of the Connacht Cup in Heffernan Park on Sunday.
The Ballina side were warmed up and ready for a good start as they had conceded early tries in previous games in the league, and they were determined not to have that happen again.
From the start Ballina attacked and great work by the forwards was rewarded with a fine breakthrough try from Oscar Moore with Eoin Golden converting.
Ballina immediately drove at the Ballinasloe line again with the front row of Donnacha Forde, Joe Kelly and Jack Barrett rucking hard and securing the ball. Hard work from the forwards and scrum half Evan Molloy set up Moore to run through for a second try which was duly converted by Golden.
The game was certainly going the way of the Mayo boys when Alexander Smyth ran in another excellently worked try. Ballinasloe needed to respond and did so with 10 minutes to go in the first half when they powered through for a well worked try to close the gap to 19-5.
However, Ballina were not going to be reined in and flanker Jack Heffernan broke two tackles to pop the ball to Charlie Lynott who ran through three players to touch down and Golden again converted to leave Ballina with a 26–5 half time advantage.
Changes were made at half-time with Mark Conroy going in to the centre; Smyth moving to wing; Nathan Duffy coming into the front row and Jamie Devers joining Nathan in a really impressive display from the whole front row.
A noteworthy fact from Sunday's match was that the Moysiders won every lineout, both their own and the oppositions due to fine work from Declan Moran, Cathal McNicholas and Joe Kelly who were really on their game and focused on winning every ball.
The forwards were also dominant in the scrum which enabled some great backline moves and Smyth capitalised on this with another great try.
Thomas McWilliams started the match on the wing but moved to scrumhalf for the second half, as Molloy left for a boxing match (which he won). McWilliams was excellent at the base of the scrum and shipped the ball to the hard working second row Craig Ferguson who showed some great foot work to evade multiple defenders and touch down under the posts.
Ballinasloe never stopped trying and worked their way down the pitch to score a great try which was brilliantly converted from way out.
However, Ballina was still not finished. Ross Newcombe and Cody Devaney Gallagher came in with 20 minutes to go on the wings and this added more pressure on the opposition.
Another try scored from the multi-talented Mark Conroy ended a well-rehearsed and strong performance for the home boys. The ever-reliable full-back Robert Young kicked over a fantastic conversion from way out which showed the talent and versatility in the squad.
Last September it was a struggle to get 10 or twelve lads at training but all have stuck with it, and now there are at least 18 or 19 lads at training every night and three more lads signed up in the last couple of weeks. The future looks bright with this group of lads and hopefully in three weeks’ time they will again show their true colours in the cup quarter final in Heffernan Park.
A huge thanks to all the parents who helped make the day very special for everyone.
Scorers - Oscar Moore and Alexander Smyth three tries each; Cathal McNicholas, Craig Ferguson, Charlie Lynott and Mark Conroy one try each; Eoin Golden six conversions; Robert Young one conversion.
The Ballina side were warmed up and ready for a good start as they had conceded early tries in previous games in the league, and they were determined not to have that happen again.
From the start Ballina attacked and great work by the forwards was rewarded with a fine breakthrough try from Oscar Moore with Eoin Golden converting.
Ballina immediately drove at the Ballinasloe line again with the front row of Donnacha Forde, Joe Kelly and Jack Barrett rucking hard and securing the ball. Hard work from the forwards and scrum half Evan Molloy set up Moore to run through for a second try which was duly converted by Golden.
The game was certainly going the way of the Mayo boys when Alexander Smyth ran in another excellently worked try. Ballinasloe needed to respond and did so with 10 minutes to go in the first half when they powered through for a well worked try to close the gap to 19-5.
However, Ballina were not going to be reined in and flanker Jack Heffernan broke two tackles to pop the ball to Charlie Lynott who ran through three players to touch down and Golden again converted to leave Ballina with a 26–5 half time advantage.
Changes were made at half-time with Mark Conroy going in to the centre; Smyth moving to wing; Nathan Duffy coming into the front row and Jamie Devers joining Nathan in a really impressive display from the whole front row.
A noteworthy fact from Sunday's match was that the Moysiders won every lineout, both their own and the oppositions due to fine work from Declan Moran, Cathal McNicholas and Joe Kelly who were really on their game and focused on winning every ball.
The forwards were also dominant in the scrum which enabled some great backline moves and Smyth capitalised on this with another great try.
Thomas McWilliams started the match on the wing but moved to scrumhalf for the second half, as Molloy left for a boxing match (which he won). McWilliams was excellent at the base of the scrum and shipped the ball to the hard working second row Craig Ferguson who showed some great foot work to evade multiple defenders and touch down under the posts.
Ballinasloe never stopped trying and worked their way down the pitch to score a great try which was brilliantly converted from way out.
However, Ballina was still not finished. Ross Newcombe and Cody Devaney Gallagher came in with 20 minutes to go on the wings and this added more pressure on the opposition.
Another try scored from the multi-talented Mark Conroy ended a well-rehearsed and strong performance for the home boys. The ever-reliable full-back Robert Young kicked over a fantastic conversion from way out which showed the talent and versatility in the squad.
Last September it was a struggle to get 10 or twelve lads at training but all have stuck with it, and now there are at least 18 or 19 lads at training every night and three more lads signed up in the last couple of weeks. The future looks bright with this group of lads and hopefully in three weeks’ time they will again show their true colours in the cup quarter final in Heffernan Park.
A huge thanks to all the parents who helped make the day very special for everyone.
Scorers - Oscar Moore and Alexander Smyth three tries each; Cathal McNicholas, Craig Ferguson, Charlie Lynott and Mark Conroy one try each; Eoin Golden six conversions; Robert Young one conversion.
Further reading