With the first round of the ALL Ireland Junior Cup competition this weekend all eyes will be on the four Connacht clubs competing. Ballinasloe will play CIYMS in Belfast while OLBC will play Newcastle West in Limerick, Connemara play the former AIL side St Mary’s and Monivea play Coolmine all 4 Connacht sides have demonstrated the ability to win these games which will be feasts of Irish club rugby. Crowds are expected at all 4 games and we look forward very much to attending the CIYMS game in Belfast.
Connemara v St Mary’s
Monivea v Coolmine
Meanwhile in Connacht the domestic leagues have games occuring in J1B & J2.
There is one game in J1B
In J1B Buccaneers play Tuam at 8pm Dubarry Park. Tuam have had a horrible start to the season but have won one of their 5 games, while Buccs have had a solid start win 4 of their 5 games. We are approaching that time of the season when conditions change markedly and the style of play as the weeks go by moves from a late summer indian summer autumn expansive game to a bit more of a tactical game.
J1B 2014/1524/10/2014
20:00 Buccaneers vs Tuam Dubarry Park
In J2 there are 5 games! OLBC play Corinthians thats league positon 5 playes league position 3, potentially nothing in this game, expect a superb game ofr the impartia spectator. Ballinasloe will face Oughterard which is position 10 plays position 8 in the league, potential another close game, if Oaughterard lose they will potential slide significantly down the table. Connemara play Castlebar which is position 2 v position 13 in the league, if Connemara live up to their position in the league then expect a high scoring game, however Castlebar are a team with aspirations and they more than anyone will be completely unhappy with their start to the season, its early days but at the moment Connemara are a club in form! Galwegians play NUIG which is position 6 v 12 which after only 2 and sometimes 1 game played per club very difficult at this stage of the season to predict how this will pan out, finally Tuam play Carrick On Shannon. Carrick have as a community worked tirelessly in recent seasons and have an entirely new pitch which has been funded with government assistance but very importantly the club had to do their own fundraising also.expect a raucaus crowd of enthusiastic Carrick support as they intend to christen their pitch woith a win, Tuam however are the league leaders with 2 games and 2 wins, potentially the game of the weekend!
J2 League 2014/15 24/10/2014
19:30 OLBC vs Corinthians OLBC
26/10/2014
14:30 Ballinasloe vs Oughterard Ballinasloe
14:30 Connemara vs Castlebar Monastery Field
14:30 Galwegians vs NUIG Crowley Park
14:30 Tuam vs Carrick Tuam
Below are a number of youth games taking place also this weekend.
U18 League 2014/15 26/10/2014
12:00 Ballinasloe vs Buccaneers Ballinasloe
12:00 Corinthians vs Creggs Corinthian Park
12:00 Sligo vs Ballina Hamilton Pk
12:30 Castlebar vs Monivea Castlebar
13:00 Westport vs Galwegians Westport
U16 League North 2014/15 26/10/2014
12:00 Castlebar vs Sligo Castlebar
U16 League South 2014/15 26/10/2014
12:00 Ballinasloe vs Connemara Ballinasloe
U16 Development League 26/10/2014
13:00 NUIG Youth Academy vs Erris Dangan
U15 A League 2014/15 25/10/2014
12:15 Galwegians vs Westport Crowley Park
26/10/2014
12:00 Corinthians vs Ballina Corinthian Park
U15 Development League 2014/15 25/10/2014
13:00 Ballinrobe vs NUIG Youth Academy Ballinrobe
26/10/2014
12:00 Ballyhaunis vs Loughrea Ballyhaunis
12:00 Claremorris vs Tuam Claremorris
U13 League 2014/15 Group 1 25/10/2014
15:00 Ballina vs Carrick Ballina
26/10/2014
12:00 Corrib vs Loughrea Corrib
12:00 Creggs vs Gort Creggs
12:00 Erris vs Ballyhaunis Erris
U13 League 2014/15 Group 2 25/10/2014
12:00 Ballinasloe vs Buccaneers Ballinasloe