The new touch rugby season returned in recent times, Buccaneers journeying to the Sport Ireland Indoor Arena to compete for the Liam Carroll Cup at the All-Ireland Mixed Touch Championship.
Buccaneers were understrength with a squad of 11 from a possible 14 travelling to Dublin. Despite this handicap they excelled, reaching the semi-final stage of the nine-team tournament and with a bit more luck they could easily have claimed a sensational bronze medal, suffering a narrow 5-4 defeat to Old Belvedere Touch in the third place play-off.
Buccaneers were placed in the four-team Group B with newcomers East Coast Touch, the Tipsters All Starz and Old Wesley Dolphins and they duly secured a place in the semi-finals with wins over East Coast (4-1 - scorers Ben Wolfe, Nigel So, Alex Connor, Gustavs Mitenbergs ) and the All Starz (4-0 - scorers Aoibhin Tynan, Ben, Feidhlim Byrne, Alex ).
In the final group match, Buccaneers faced a step up in class taking on Old Wesley Dolphins. The powerful Dublin side contained half a dozen Irish men’s and women’s open internationals and their sweeping moves put Buccaneers under constant pressure. Dolphins had built up a 5-0 lead as the game drew to a close but Buccaneers showed some defiance at the death when Aoibhin Tynan sliced through the defence from near half way for a try of the season contender.
Buccaneers took their place in the semi-final and it was almost déjà vu as they faced tournament favourites Old Wesley Touch. The well-drilled Donnybrook club employ the same high-pace, high-pressure tactics as the Dolphins and duly polished off Buccs 5-0 to qualify for the cup final.
Buccaneers were tiring at this stage after facing the two stacked Old Wesley squads but they regrouped and put in a big effort in the bronze medal match against Old Belvo. Buccaneers started the stronger and built up an impressive 3-1 lead with scores from Paul Gavin, Feidhlim and Alex. A seasoned outfit like Belvo were always going to come back into the game and so they did, scoring three tries to lead 4-3 before Dion Chitanda scored to give Buccaneers hope. Old Belvo scored late on to snatch the victory. It was a huge effort by Buccaneers to get so close to a medal and many put in a herculean effort.
Buccaneers - Denis O’Connor, Paul Gavin, Ben Wolfe, Aoibhin Tynan, Niamh Purtill, Alex Connor, Dion Chitanda, Gustavs Mitenbergs, Greg Frost, Nigel So, Feidhlim Byrne.
