Castlebar Rugby Ladies v Tuam 23 Oct 2016

  • Oct 24,2016

Castlebar v Tuam, Connacht League Round 1 match report 23/10/16

 Castlebar welcomed Tuam to Castlebar RFC on Sunday October 23rd for the first round of the Connacht League. Castlebar, fresh from their Connacht Invitational Cup win 2 weeks ago were determined to start the league strong and this they did with a bonus point win of 38 points to 10, the home side running in 6 tries and converting 4. 

 The fixture of Castlebar against Tuam is a contest that rarely disappoints and this encounter was no different. Tuam showed power in their scrums and accurate ball handling in their backs, making Castlebar fight for every inch of ground gained, the score line not doing justice to the efforts of the visitors. 

 Castlebar soaked some Tuam pressure in the early exchanges before turning the ball over and enjoying a period of dominance of their own. Forwards mixing with backs and a gap spotted by Claire Cuffe who offloaded in the tackle to Sandra Kenny which resulted in Castlebar’s first try with Becky Gavin adding the extras. 7-0 to the home side. Castlebar, however, were unable to build on this lead and a mistake in Castlebar’s lineout afforded a penalty to Tuam. A ‘tap and go’ from their quick thinking out half resulted in Tuam’s first try with their number 4 powering over to leave the score at 7-5 to the home side after a missed conversion. Castlebar spent much of the rest of the first half in defensive mode as Tuam kept possession and went through multiple phases making it difficult for the home side to get their hands on the ball. Castlebar’s defensive efforts were impressive against a powerful Tuam pack and they were rewarded with points when a turnover resulted in Castlebar’s captain Anne-Marie O’Hora adding 5 points of her own after dotting down under the posts with Becky Gavin converting, 14-5 the half time score. 

 Castlebar settled into the second half well and got on the score board early on with Jen Keegan weaving her way through the defence to dot down under the posts, 21-5 to Castlebar. This seemed to put a bit of daylight between the teams but Tuam operating as they always do, never gave up and were unlucky to have a try held up by Castlebar. But if at once you don’t succeed you try again, which they did and were rewarded with their second try leaving the score at 21-10. Castlebar went in search of a bonus point try and found it through Becky Gavin. Gavin saw opportunity in a mistake in Tuam’s defence and kicked the ball forward and touched down leaving the score at 26-10 to the home side. Castlebar added two late tries after this. The first came from a misplaced pass from Tuam to Castlebar’s Nicola Hall which allowed her to sprint 75 metres of the pitch and touch down to the right of the posts, 33-10 to Castlebar. The second, and last try of the game came from a steal from Tuam’s ruck by Caroline Staunton and with a lot of work to do, she broke through the defence and crossed the whitewash leaving the final score at 38-10 to Castlebar.

 Massive thanks to Tuam for a tough game and to all of the supporters who came out to cheer both teams on. Castlebar will play Buccaneers in the second round of the league away in Athlone on Sunday November 6th. Time tbc.
 Castlebar: Jacinta Walsh, Trish McHale, Claire Cuffe, Sandra Kenny, Darwyn O’Halloran, Becky Gavin, Anne-Marie O’Hora (Captain), Lisa Moore, Lisa Carroll, Joyce O’Boyle, Cathy Blake, Fiona Nic Ruairí, Kiara Irwin. Replacements: Jen Keegan, Caroline Staunton & Nicola Hall.
 Coaches and management: Ger Prendergast, Christy Cusack & Jason Keane.
 Team Mascot: Sophie Keane