Historic win for south Mayo rugby club
Sunday last was a historic day for fledgling south Mayo rugby club Claremorris Colts as they won a first ever Curley Plate title, defeating Carrick-on-Shannon 29-26 in Ballina.
Every member of the panel did themselves and the club proud, edging a Titanic battle at Heffernan Park.
The Colts, playing an exciting brand of fast-paced rugby, were rewarded with an early try when Cathal McHugh crossed the line.
Carrick upped the ante and were rewarded with a try of their own as they broke away on the left-hand side to touch down under the posts. With a successful conversion, the Leitrim men were 7-5 ahead.
The Colts responded with more pressure and after good forward play the ball came out to Shane Meehan, who evaded the Carrick defenders to cross the line under the posts, and he also added the conversion to make it 12-7 to Claremorris.
Once more Carrick responded well and after a period of sustained pressure, the Colts’ defence finally gave way. The successful conversion to the second Carrick-on-Shannon try put them back into the lead at 14-12.
The Colts then tested the Carrick defence with powerful carries. Their pressure was rewarded after a silky backline move created space for Matthew Macken out wide and he ran it in from just outside the 22. Shane Meehan kicked a superb conversion from the touchline to make it 19-14 to the Colts at half-time.
The Leitrim men applied a lot of pressure on the Colts’ defence but the Mayo men held strong for long periods. Meehan kicked a penalty to stretch the lead to 22-14 but Carrick struck back with another try to make it 22-19.
With the match very much in the balance, the Colts lifted themselves again, veteran John Costello crashing over under the posts. Meehan added the conversion to push the score out to 29-19.
The final 10 minutes saw Carrick-on-Shannon apply sustained pressure, with the Colts defending resolutely. With the clock in the red, Carrick scored the last try of an enthralling game but it proved to be no more than a consolation.
The jubilant scenes at the final whistle belonged to the team in red and black from south Mayo. There were some standout performances on the day but the man of the match award went to Luke Colleran for an exceptional display in both attack and defence.
The Colts now have a well-needed week off and will be back in action on November 30 against Corinthians 3rds in the league.
The Claremorris team in full was: J. Colleran, A. Conway, C. Heaney, D. Campbell, T. Kean, L. Heaney, D. Noone, L. Colleran, N. Lavelle, S. Meehan, M. Macken, C. McHugh, M. Foody, J. Kelly, R. Hamilton. The replacements were: H. Omorodion, K. Sheridan, J. Costello, S. Colgan, L. Murphy, S. O’Farrell, M. Kearney, C. Prendergast, M. Kelly, K. Jennings, J. Prendergast.