Buccaneers Topple Holders In Connacht Senior Cup

They now take on the final against Ballina on St. Patrick's Day.

Buccaneers knocked holders Sligo out of the Connacht Senior Cup by 22-5 in their semi-final clash at Dubarry Park on Saturday. Both teams were much changed from their opening day league tie at Strandhill with the visitors fielding seven of their starters from that occasion while Buccs had one less.

Michael Hanley was the Pirates sole survivor from their backline while James Kelly, Martin Staunton, Cian McCann and the Galvin brothers Fergus and Evan lined out in the pack. The north-westerners had a quartet of forwards in Matthew Earley, Eddie Coyle, Craig Trimble and James O’Hehir and a trio of Enda Gavin, Brendan Cunningham and Guilherme Coghetto in their backs unit.

Heavy rain in the 24 hours preceding kick-off meant underfoot conditions were quite soft which looked an advantage for the bigger visiting forwards. But aided by the breeze and a dominant pack in the set-pieces Buccaneers dictated the opening half in front of a modest attendance on what turned out to be a fine sunny afternoon. A great early drive by the home pack was a portent of what was to come but the midlanders lack of precision and indiscipline cost them in a number of promising positions before Hanley opened the scoring with 12 th minute penalty when Sligo were
guilty of not releasing the ball.

But, within three minutes, Sligo grabbed the lead totally against the run of early play when Kuba Wojtkowicz made good ground up the centre and two passes later Ryan Feehily outmanoeuvred a couple of home defenders all too easily up the stand side for an unconverted try. Their advantage lasted just seven minutes. Hanley made a splendid 50/22 touch on the right where skipper Galvin won the lineout and the ball was moved to Stephen Mannion whose clever dink ahead exposed the Sligo defence and that poacher supreme Shane Layden was ever alert to notch a try which Hanley converted.

Eoin O’Reilly was flagged by a touch-judge for an untidy tackle and was sin-binned on 26 minutes but the scrumhalf was a shade unfortunate as he had been tackled off the ball by a Sligo flanker just moments earlier. Just two minutes later Rory O’Connor suffered a high tackle that forced his withdrawal due to a nasty facial cut, yet the visitors’ centre Aaron Spring escaped with a lecture from the referee.

Nevertheless, Buccaneers continued to dominate territory and, after Layden was stopped short, Hanley coolly and sublimely lofted a precise diagonal kick to the lurking McCann who dived over for an unconverted 33 rd minute try.

In the closing exchanges of the half, Fallon chased his own excellent kick ahead to put Coghetto under severe pressure and in the final move Tabo Maree just could not hold on to Harry Hughes offload with the Sligo line beckoning. Although 15-5 ahead at the interval, the advantage looked tenuous as Sligo had the influential breeze to back them on the change of ends.

The holders did threaten in the early stages of the second half with Maree making one notable turnover in that period. Thereafter, Buccs resumed dominance and indeed were camped inside the Sligo 22 for a prolonged spell either side of the hour mark without reward. It looked like they had finally breached the resilient Sligo defending when Hughes dotted down from Layden’s pass at the left corner flag on 58 minutes but the well-placed touch-judge adjudicated that the substitute was shunted into touch fractionally ahead of grounding the ball. Sligo’s best retort in this half was a break by Calum Goddard and the full-back then did well to halt McCann’s romp forward just after the hour mark.

However, Buccaneers pressure finally paid off after many flurries towards the visitors’ line when Fergus Galvin peeled away from the back of a close-in ruck to stretch over for a 72 nd minute try which Hanley converted to complete the 22-5 winning scoreline. The Athlone side were full value for the margin of victory, which with more precision could have been greater. U-20 flanker McCann continues to blossom and he was recipient of the Audi Athlone Man of the Match accolade for which Maree, Fallon and captain Galvin were all strong contenders.

Operating at flyhalf Brazilian Coghetto was always eager to take on the home defence as was Feehily while Wojtkowicz and Earley were pick of the visitors’ forwards. Buccaneers now advance to a St. Patrick’s Day final against league champions Ballina.

BUCCANEERS:- M.Hanley; T.McGann, S.Layden, S.Mannion, R.O’Connor, R.Fallon, E.O’Reilly; J.Kelly, R.Grenham, M.Staunton; R.Byrne, F.Galvin; C.McCann, E.Galvin (captain) and T.Maree. Replacements:- H.Hughes (for
O’Connor, inj. 27 mins), D.Browne (for Grenham, h/t), S.O’Connell (for Kelly, 55
mins), S.Kroupa (for F.Galvin, 55 mins), C.Daly (for O’Reilly, 63 mins), F.Galvin
(for McCann, 65 mins) and J.Kelly (for Staunton, 68 mins).

SLIGO:- C.Goddard; E.Gavin, R.Feehily, A.Spring, F.Lynch-Young; G.Coghetto, B.Cunningham; E.Coyle, M.Earley (captain), C.Trimble; E.Ryan, K.Wojtkowicz; J.O’Hehir, B.West and C.Neilsen. Replacements:- J.Sexton (for Trimble, 33 mins), S.Wynne (for Neilsen, h/t), J.Fleming (for Gavin, 45 mins), C.Trimble (for Sexton, 51 mins), C.Neilsen (for West, 51 mins), E.Gavin (for Fleming, 53 mins), A.Tansey (for Coyle, 72 mins) and J.Gormley.

Referee:- Shane Gaughan (Connacht).

BUCCS HOME TO DOLPHIN ON SATURDAY

BUCCANEERS return to Energia All-Ireland League action when Dolphin visit Dubarry Park for this Division 2A clash on Saturday. Kick off is 2.30 p.m. Buccs were frustrated last November when having made the long trip to Cork that that match was cancelled shortly before kick-off due to Covid in the Rebels camp, a scoreless draw being the outcome. The Pirates will hope for better fortune on this occasion as they strive to maintain their position in the top four. If they can go close to the collective performance shown against Rainey Old Boys then a home win should be the outcome.

A solid Cup win last weekend against Sligo emphasised the improved options available to the coaching team. But Buccs must guard against complacency for Dolphin on their day can prove difficult opponents. They lie in seventh place in the league table, look safe but maybe not quite far enough away from the threat of being dragged into the relegation mire.

So will be searching for vital points but they have lost their last three fixtures including 50-24 and 55-14 defeats away to MU Barnhall and Nenagh Ormonde respectively. Brian Scott’s charges are inconsistent so the Athlone side must be focussed and disciplined from start to finish to avoid a ‘banana skin’ slip up.

PRE-MATCH FUNCTION FOR DOLPHIN GAME

Buccaneers are hosting a pre-match function for Saturday’s match v Dolphin. For just €30 you can enjoy a meal with wine in The Bounty, free admission to the match plus a complimentary 100-page programme. Groups or individuals can be catered for. To book contact our Administrator Geraldine at 0861732711. U-20’s home to NUIG

WOMENS CUP QUARTER-FINAL

Buccaneer's women's team have joined up with Galway Corinthians for the forthcoming Connacht Womens Cup campaign. This new alliance gets their first taste of action against Westport on Sunday in a quarter-final joust that gets under way in Dubarry Park at 1 p.m. Westport have been one of the province’s stronger sides in recent seasons but the Buccaneers/Corinthians union is interesting and, if they jell, they will put it up to the Mayo ladies.