Buccaneers took the honours in this season’s Ard Na Cregg Cup by 33-15 thanks to a dominant first-half display against Oughterard on Sunday in Corinthian Park.
Oughterard, playing in their first Ard Na Cregg final having overcome Ballina in the semi-final, struggled to gain a foothold against the wind as Buccaneers established a 28 -0 half-time lead.
However the newcomers did their best in the second half to mount a serious challenge. James Greene’s try soon after the restart from a quickly-taken penalty gave Oughterard real hope before Ciaran O’Flynn kicked a penalty to close the gap. Crucially, however, it was the more experienced Buccaneers who scored next, grabbing a fifth try to put the game beyond Oughterard’s reach.
Credit to Oughterard as they never gave up. Some tactical kicking provided the platform, and allied to speed in their backs, they were rewarded when Mark Kavanagh raced in for a 73rd minute try - insufficient, however, on the day to deny Buccaneers the silverware .
Buccaneers: K O’Neill; M Tormey, D Kelly, S Flynn, R Silke; D Costello, N Purcell; T Thompson, K Grehan, L Doran; D Dunning, G Glynn (capt ); N Flynn, T Couper, S Byrne. Replacements, G Kenny for Glynn, D Smith for Silke, C Galvin for Flynn V McGrath for Dunning.
Oughterard: N Kenny; E Walsh, J Cleggett, C Ryan, M Kavanagh; J Clarke (capt ), C O’Flynn; A Gibbons, C Conneely, J Gibbons; I Fogerty, T Campbell; M Bergin, E Kelly, J Greene. Replacements, A Dixon for Clarke, MForrestal for Bergin, AConneely for Fogerty, M Murray for Gibbons, J Keogh for Conneely, B Carey, M Ruane and C Delapp.
