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Connacht return to the Galway Sportsground this evening determined to make up for last weekend’s narrow loss to Edinburgh. Having played most of the rugby last weekend, Connacht know they let themselves down when failing to take advantage of their opportunities, and coach Eric Elwood says tomorrow discipline will be the key. “What killed us last weekend was our discipline, the penalty count at one stage was 10 to two. But the best thing about league rugby is you can put it right the following week with four points,” said Elwood. “I think the lads know they didn’t do themselves justice last week so we’re expecting a big performance this week from everybody. We can’t change results, but we can change how we play on Friday.”

Both Ballina and Westport got their Connacht Junior league campaigns off to winning starts last Sunday, while Castlebar had to make do with a share of the spoils at home.

What a difference a few days make. In these pages last week this writer said that Castlebar needed to see some improvement against Monivea last weekend or it could be a long hard winter in Cloondeash. And that’s exactly what happened as Rory Casey’s side saw off Monivea by four points to hopefully give them a springboard for the winter.

Westport slipped to a five-point defeat in Carrowholly last weekend to the current champions Monivea who were in no mood to loose to Mayo opposition for the second week in a row. They were far from the Monivea of old in the early exchanges but a good second half display showed they still had the class of old within themselves.

Castlebar lose unbeaten record

With the Connacht Junior League taking a break this weekend after the first couple of rounds of games got the paddocks across the province muddied up for the rest of the season, it will give the Mayo sides involved a chance to regroup and get their game plans down for the remainder of the year. With five rounds of the league gone so far Westport are the best placed Mayo side and sit in sixth position in the league tables on 12 points with two wins from five. They sit a point ahead of Castlebar thanks to the four bonus points they have picked up. Castlebar, despite having won the same number of games and picking up a draw, trail their near neighbours because they have only managed to pick up a solitary bonus point in their five outings.

After last weekend’s adventures on the national stage it’s back to the basics of the Connacht Junior League for the Mayo sides in division 1A and 1B. Both Castlebar and Ballina bowed out of the All Ireland Junior Cup last weekend at the first round stage, with Westport the only Mayo side to progress to the next round of the competition. With four games to go for two of the Mayo sides in the league it’s do or die time as they try to finish in the top four of the exclusively junior sides to book their place in the All Ireland cup for next year.

The four Mayo clubs in the Connacht Junior League 1A all had a bad weekend last time out with Castlebar, Westport, Ballina, and Ballinrobe all going down in round two of the league. Bottom of the table Ballinrobe shipped a 39 point defeat at the hands of table toppers Sligo to leave them rooted to the floor of the table, with Oísin Gill the only man to get a score for Ballinrobe in a 42-3 loss. It was always going to be tough for Ballinrobe this year to make the step up to the top flight. They did manage to get a bonus point in their first game away to OLBC, but last weekend’s hammering at the hands of Sligo could put a serious dent in their title credentials. They do have a shot at redemption this weekend when they make the short trip to Carrowholly where they face the Bulls of Westport. But it will be another tough ask and a losing bonus point is all that they really could hope for.