SLIGO 13 BUCCANEERS 30
SLIGO 13 BUCCANEERS 29
BUCCANEERS U-19s put in a strong finish to defeat Sligo 29-13 in their Connacht League encounter at Hamilton Park, Strandhill, on Sunday. On a breezy but dry afternoon, Buccs did not click as an attacking force until late in the game to secure a bonus point victory in this redrafted and restarted league.
The Athlone boys trailed 5-13 at the break but held the home side scoreless in the second half. Their defensive effort was decent enough throughout but they will need to be more clinical all through in tough tests ahead. All Buccs tries came from their Seans – messrs. Dempsey (2), Doyle and Flanagan. Ben Carty converted all second half tries and also kicked a penalty.
Centres Dempsey and Doyle were best of the backline, being defensively resilient whilst also displaying their score-taking prowess. Josh O’Rourke drove the pack ever on while his second row partner Niall Carr also did well as did backrower Thomas Finuncane.
BUCCANEERS:- R.McMickan; E.O’Reilly, S.Doyle, S.Dempsey, H.Hughes; B.Carty, B.Gilligan; S.Gallagher, S.Flanagan, J.Gormley; J.O’Rourke, N.Carr; C.Morrissey, P.Hennessy and T.Finucane. Replacements:- P.McLoughlin and G.Murtagh.
