On a day of eyecatching results in Division 3,Rainey Old Boys had their own bad day at the office in the far west where they eked out a bonus point 37-18 victory over bottom of the table Connemara who pushed them all the way and were unlucky not to pick up a point which their approach deserved. On their last visit to Connacht,the Galway men stole the points,so Rainey were guarding against complacency,but some shocking lapses in concentration and a succession of cardinal errors forced them to dig deep and win ugly..Scrum-half Peter Sciascia was again the man who provided the spark they badly needed as the tenacious Blacks refused to roll over and die after conceding two tries just after the interval.This win,their sixth in seven games,takes Rainey up to sixth place.
CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES FROM CITY OF DERRY GAME LAST WEEK
Connemara had first use of the wind at the Monastery Field in Clifden where they attacked from the start.Rainey second-row Shiels hacked through to get his side moving forward and centre Paul broke the first line of defence,but was grounded in the 22′.Struggling to establish any control,they fell behind after 11 minutes when they were caught offside in midfield.O’Connor saw a penalty held up in the wind and a touch of individual skill from Mac Mahon took Rainey back into their opponents’ half,but their optimism was short-lived.The score they badly needed arrived after 26 minutes.By shoving the Connemara pack off their own ball,they earned a penalty which they stuck in the corner where a catch and drive resulted in a try for everpresent loose-head Amos.A risky offload and a missed tackle almost hurt Rainey as Connemara saw a kick ahead go too far,but,when Rainey badly sliced a kick to touch,Connemara edged their way upfield for their scrum-half to race clear for a well-taken try.Now trailing 8-5,Rainey kept the ball for the last two minutes of the half,but some excellent tackling.
Two minutes after the break Sciascia robbed an opponent near halfway to put Connemara on the back foot and then wormed his way through for a try at the posts from a ruck thirty-five yards out.Shifting the ball smartly along the line,they were awarded a penalty which O’Connor goaled to make it 15-8 and on 52 minutes a wave of attacks brought the full-back a try.But,having done the hard bit,Rainey promptly shot themselves in the foot by fumbling the drop out which led to a second score for the home side’s very capable scrum-half.With thirteen minutes remaining,an O’Connor kick ahead was carried over and from the resulting scrum Connemara were penalised.Rainey chose to take the points,but again made a complete mess of the restart and nearly paid the penalty.Their vital fourth try came eight minutes from the end.A long touch find from Martin and a forward drive was followed by several individual attempts before No.8 Mc Crea found an opening.O’Connor converted.As Rainey emptied their bench,they made heavy weather of clearing their lines and handed Connemara their third try,but in the dying seconds,Sciascia spotted a gap from a ruck fifteen yards out to notch his second try which O’Connorconverted.
TEAM : M.O’Connor,P.Suiter,J.Mac Mahon,R.Paul,R.Devlin,G.Martin,P.Sciascia,N.Amos,S.Sufferin,N.O’Kane,P.Boyle,M.Shiels,P.Heaney.D.Dawson,R.Mc Crea.
REPLACEMENTS : R.Hall ( O ‘Kane 60 ) A.Harbinson ( Heaney 68 ) A.Campbell ( Devlin 68 ) P.Stewart ( Shiels 73 ) C.Donaghy ( Sufferin 73 )
Other Division 3 results for 19 Feb.were : Banbridge 16 v 14 Nenagh Ormond Barnhall 18 v 28 Wanderers City of Derry 32 v 38 Ards Greystones 48 v 6 Instonians Navan 10 v 26 Highfield Seapoint 30 v 15 Naas Suttonians 30 v 17 Sunday’s Well
FIXTURES for 26 Feb.
Ards v Connemara Highfield v Greystones Instonians v Banbridge Naas v Navan Nenagh Ormond v City of Derry Rainey O.B. v Barnhall Seapoint v Suttonians Wanderers v Sunday’s Well Banbridge v Highfield
RAINEY O.B. FIXTURES :
1st XV v BARNHALL home 2.30 p.m.
2nd XV v Strabane away
3rd XV v Forster Cup quarter-final
4th XV v Inishowen 11 home
TABLE QUIZ – LIONS CLUB – all proceeds to charity – Thursday,24 Feb.@ 8.30 p.m. – in Rugby Club.
