Connacht Previews October 17th, 2014 Rob Connemara OLBC Connacht Junior League Division 1a (Sunday 2:30): Monivea v Connemara (Kick off 3pm) The game of the season so far in Connacht as the top two clash at the Castle Grounds. It has been quite a while since we’ve had two Junior clubs at the forefront in the Connacht Junior League title stakes, you’d have to go back to the 2011 league title race between Sligo and Monivea for that and no one will forget the incredible encounter those sides served up in Hamilton Park that season. There is a feeling coming into this one that Connemara might have the edge, are more clinical, ruthless and consistent than their hosts. Whereas Monivea were soundly beaten by ten points in Westport, Connemara won by 11 and while Monivea won at Corinthians the Clifden based side faced a much stronger Corinthian outfit when they lost at the Cloonacauneen venue. Both sides have 19 points, both sides have creativity and speed out wide and play clever A to B rugby through the phases up front. Cory Brown is working with good talent up front but they don’t have depth in the front row and have to work around that. Eddie Walsh is lacking depth in the forwards for Connemara too but that hasn’t held them back. The battles should be fascinating, Stephen Joyce for Monivea against Barry Gibbons at seven, the ever sharp Darren Blade against the hard to pin down Michael O’Toole at nine, Ger O’Connor against Shane Sweeney, Kevin Higgins against Dave McDonagh. Connacht rugby has been crying out for a matchup like this for some time, Connemara are back in the Junior leagues and having regrouped their ready to challenge for the main crown, Monivea have been usurped and are coming back looking to assert their dominance. This could be quite the rugby match. home by 1 Ballina v Corinthians 2nds Two sides on losing runs come to an important juncture in the season. Corinthians title hopes will be close to up in flames if they lose a third on the bounce, Ballina will be looking more closely at the likelihood of a bottom two finish. Home by 2 Ballinasloe v OLBC There’s life in Ballinasloe but inconsistency too. They have been soundly beaten by Galwegians and Connemara on their travels but they produced a couple of big home wins over Westport and Corinthians to balance that. The visitors are winless in five outings but have been showing some positive signs of late and could have beaten both Westport and Ballina at home. home by 7 Westport v Galwegians 2nds Another chance for Westport here to continue their hugely impressive run of wins, four in a row if they can edge out a talented but disjointed young Galwegians side. This will be close however and the sky blues could easily conjure up an upset here to really kick start a lacklustre campaign so far. home by 2 Division 1b (Sunday 2:30) Castlebar v Ballinrobe The black and white hoops make the 20 minute trip north on Sunday still harbouring frustrations from their first home loss of the campaign and ready to collide with a home side that have won four of five and seem to be finding their zip after a few patchy displays. Winning is all that matters though and they should dig out another ‘w’ here. home by 4 Corrib v Ballyhaunis These two sides are familiar foes at this stage and they usually conjure up some good contest. Ballyhaunis have had some ups and downs of later, all high scoring duals with Castlebar and Buccaneers getting the better of them, Corrib have had games called off and little or no momentum since their big win in Castlebar. They might sneak a big victory here. home by 2 Loughrea v Creggs There is a vibe around Loughrea this year that suggests they are in this promotion race for the long haul even allowing for the home loss to Castlebar, the visitors from the Roscommon Galway border just can’t buy a win at the moment. home by 6 Division 1c (Sunday 2:30) Ballina 2nds v Buccaneers 3rds A real chance for a first win here for the hosts against a Buccs side that have lost a lot of tight battles. home by 2 Dunmore v Galwegians 3rds A test for Dunmore’s title credentials but they dealt with Buccaneers well in the end and can do likewise here. home by 5 Sligo 2nds v NUIG Hugely important clash in the title race. There is never much between these sides and this one could come down to the last few minutes. home by 3. Connacht Previews October 17th, 2014 Rob Connemara OLBC Connacht Junior League Division 1a (Sunday 2:30): Monivea v Connemara (Kick off 3pm) The game of the season so far in Connacht as the top two clash at the Castle Grounds. It has been quite a while since we’ve had two Junior clubs at the forefront in the Connacht Junior League title stakes, you’d have to go back to the 2011 league title race between Sligo and Monivea for that and no one will forget the incredible encounter those sides served up in Hamilton Park that season. There is a feeling coming into this one that Connemara might have the edge, are more clinical, ruthless and consistent than their hosts. Whereas Monivea were soundly beaten by ten points in Westport, Connemara won by 11 and while Monivea won at Corinthians the Clifden based side faced a much stronger Corinthian outfit when they lost at the Cloonacauneen venue. Both sides have 19 points, both sides have creativity and speed out wide and play clever A to B rugby through the phases up front. Cory Brown is working with good talent up front but they don’t have depth in the front row and have to work around that. Eddie Walsh is lacking depth in the forwards for Connemara too but that hasn’t held them back. The battles should be fascinating, Stephen Joyce for Monivea against Barry Gibbons at seven, the ever sharp Darren Blade against the hard to pin down Michael O’Toole at nine, Ger O’Connor against Shane Sweeney, Kevin Higgins against Dave McDonagh. Connacht rugby has been crying out for a matchup like this for some time, Connemara are back in the Junior leagues and having regrouped their ready to challenge for the main crown, Monivea have been usurped and are coming back looking to assert their dominance. This could be quite the rugby match. home by 1 Ballina v Corinthians 2nds Two sides on losing runs come to an important juncture in the season. Corinthians title hopes will be close to up in flames if they lose a third on the bounce, Ballina will be looking more closely at the likelihood of a bottom two finish. Home by 2 Ballinasloe v OLBC There’s life in Ballinasloe but inconsistency too. They have been soundly beaten by Galwegians and Connemara on their travels but they produced a couple of big home wins over Westport and Corinthians to balance that. The visitors are winless in five outings but have been showing some positive signs of late and could have beaten both Westport and Ballina at home. home by 7 Westport v Galwegians 2nds Another chance for Westport here to continue their hugely impressive run of wins, four in a row if they can edge out a talented but disjointed young Galwegians side. This will be close however and the sky blues could easily conjure up an upset here to really kick start a lacklustre campaign so far. home by 2 Division 1b (Sunday 2:30) Castlebar v Ballinrobe The black and white hoops make the 20 minute trip north on Sunday still harbouring frustrations from their first home loss of the campaign and ready to collide with a home side that have won four of five and seem to be finding their zip after a few patchy displays. Winning is all that matters though and they should dig out another ‘w’ here. home by 4 Corrib v Ballyhaunis These two sides are familiar foes at this stage and they usually conjure up some good contest. Ballyhaunis have had some ups and downs of later, all high scoring duals with Castlebar and Buccaneers getting the better of them, Corrib have had games called off and little or no momentum since their big win in Castlebar. They might sneak a big victory here. home by 2 Loughrea v Creggs There is a vibe around Loughrea this year that suggests they are in this promotion race for the long haul even allowing for the home loss to Castlebar, the visitors from the Roscommon Galway border just can’t buy a win at the moment. home by 6 Division 1c (Sunday 2:30) Ballina 2nds v Buccaneers 3rds A real chance for a first win here for the hosts against a Buccs side that have lost a lot of tight battles. home by 2 Dunmore v Galwegians 3rds A test for Dunmore’s title credentials but they dealt with Buccaneers well in the end and can do likewise here. home by 5 Sligo 2nds v NUIG Hugely important clash in the title race. There is never much between these sides and this one could come down to the last few minutes. home by 3.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 10:58:34 +0000
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