michael silke
Buccaneers face a tough assignment away to St Mary’s College in their opening fixture of the new Energia All-Ireland League season when the action kicks-off at Templeville Road on Saturday at 2.30pm.
St. Mary’s have had a busy run of fixtures ahead of the AIL, some friendlies followed by a trio of Leinster Senior Cup games where they defeated Clontarf but lost to UCD and then narrowly to Lansdowne. So they may be that bit more battle-hardened than the midlanders who had mixed performances in the Connacht Senior League.
Former Ireland hooker Sean Cronin continues as head coach at the south Dublin outfit captained by Ronan Watters. Flanker Ethan Baxter and young lock Daniel Leane are vital cogs in their pack. Placekicker Mick O’Gara is as reliable as they come and he is joined in the metropolitans backline by ex-Young Munster’s Conor Hayes.
Following the departure of Eddie O’Sullivan the Pirates have a new coaching team at the helm led by Paul Byrne. The Athlone club, skippered this term by Frank Hopkins, rotated and experimented with their mainly young squad in the Connacht League. Last season’s player of the year Ruairi Byrne and sterling servant Martin Staunton have retired while Saul O’Carroll, Ciaran Booth and Steveni Lombard are among departures. Backs Mark Earle and Conor O’Shaughnessy are the main arrivals at Dubarry Park while Buccs will look to Danny Qualter in the pack and Shane Layden in the backline for leadership. Following an injury ruined season, Charlie Ward could return in the front row where Matthew Victory may debut.
Youth will be given its fling with Stephen Mannion, Michael Hanley, Ryan O’Meara, Cian McCann, James Kelly, Sean O’Connell and Fergus Galvin sure to feature. Josh O’Connor and Daniel Hawkshaw are likely starters in the backline while U-20 duo Fionn McDonnell and Oisin Dolan could be involved although they have a crunch Connacht decider on Sunday.
Buccaneers did a double over St. Mary’s last season, their away win being one of their best performances of the campaign. The Blues will be smarting from those setbacks and keen to lay down a marker on Saturday in what should be an intriguing contest.
U20s in Connacht League decider
Buccaneers and Corinthians have both qualified for Premier 2 in the Leinster League but they duel at Dubarry Park on Sunday afternoon to decide top dogs in this season’s revived Connacht League. Kick-off is at 2 p.m. for what promises to be a really competitive clash with the winners being the first name on the new trophy.
Both teams readily despatched with University of Galway’s challenges and also defeated Galwegians. Buccs bonus point win against the latter was not as clearcut as the final margin indicates but Corinthians got a real scare against the light blues, who missed a last kick of the game penalty that would have earned the Glenina team victory.
Buccs must make home advantage pay and new coaches David McAllister and Joe Walsh will be pulling out all the stops to eliminate the needless errors that occurred too frequently at Dangan are not repeated whilst also getting the team to play what’s in front of them in a more cohesive manner. Points from placed balls must be taken at every opportunity while space out wide was spurned too often last time out. There is considerable potential in this squad that has yet to jell with many new players still settling in.
Fionn McDonnell can be counted on to lead by example in the pack where Finian Murray, Oisin Dolan, Robbie Byrne and Patrick Egan are likely starters. Kevin Maher, Jack Clarke and Andrew Quinn all vie for the flyhalf berth while Cormac Lyons, Caleb Smerdon and Yishai Avrahami are key figures in the backline. This looks like a contest not to be missed.
Seconds Host Monivea in League Opener
Boosted by their clearcut Cup win over Ballina, Buccaneers Seconds should be in fine fettle and confident form for the visit of Monivea to Dubarry Park on Sunday for the opening round of the Connacht J1B League. The forwards have the capability to win sufficient ball for an enterprising backs unit to ensure a winning start to their league campaign.
