News

U14's Corinthians 13 - 12 Buccaneers

November 7, 2018

It may well have been a cold, foot stomping day for supporters on the sideline at Cloonacauneen but on the pitch the action never froze as this all action match between Corinthians and Buccaneers thrilled to the final whistle.  The first half was dominated on the scoreboard by the visitors but it belies the battle that was being fought out between the two sides. Buccaneers struck with an early unconverted try that gave the visitors a dream start in this league match and they were to press home their advantage with another converted try before half time. The home side’s only reply came in the form of a converted penalty kick from Ruadhain O’Bearra. The second half saw a resurgent Corinthians take to the pitch and this time it was they who were to dominate the scoreboard but as in the first half the game itself was a hard fought close encounter. Corinthians scores came from some skilful passing out the line and the clever use of the boot by Conor Casserly. For the first try Conor kicked from outside Buccaneers 22 and beat the covering defense in the chase for the touch down. This seemed to lift the spirit of the team even more and within a short period of time a similar move gave the chasing Jamie Kelly the opportunity to get another 5 points and he obliged. With the score now at 13 – 12 we were guaranteed a frantic final 10 minutes to this game and we were not disappointed. Corinthians were soon down to 14 men as a somewhat harsh yellow card was flashed to Conor Casserly for an adjudged high tackle. Buccaneers despite their numerical advantage were not able to penetrate out wide and changed tactics to playing a very direct game using some of their big strong players. Corinthians under constant pressure became undisciplined at the ruck, especially in the dying minutes of the game and gave away numerous penalties many of which were within 10 meters of their try line. It was no mean feat that they prevented Buccaneers from converting their efforts and held out to win by a single point.  This was a good team effort with players working hard for each other and great heart and spirit being shown by all members of the squad. Number 8 Liam Brennan had to leave the pitch due to a neck injury but thankfully it proved to be a bad muscle sprain. Best wishes and a speedy recovery to him.