Ukrainian refugee plays his part in young Buccs' success

Vlad Kotsiuba, a young refugee from Ukraine who recently arrived in the Athlone area, was part of the Buccaneers squad which won the Connacht U-14 Cup final on Sunday last.

Vlad made a notable impact in the front row following his introduction during the second half as Buccaneers overcame Carrick-on-Shannon 17-14 at the Sportsground in Galway.

Overall, the two teams provided lots of exciting play, with the Athlone boys winning a lively decider at a sunny Galway venue.

Buccs made the early running to lead 12-0 but the Co. Leitrim lads fought back to edge 14-12 ahead in the second half. However, the young Pirates rallied to take the spoils over their gallant fellow Shannonsiders.

In front of a large and vocal crowd, Buccaneers had first use of the considerable breeze but an early Jamie Kieran break kept them on their toes before Darragh Lennon was fractionally wide with a penalty. Then Nathan Kelly stormed forward to set up a promising raid by the Pirates and pressure was maintained inside the Carrick 22 where the No.8 finished off the move near the uprights. Lennon added a neat conversion to this 11th-minute try.

It quickly got better for Buccs when a penalty to the left earned them good territory. They showed slick handling and composure following the lineout to unlock their opponents’ rearguard with Hugo McGowan and Philip Finnan prominent. After Ryan Nagle was held up, Lennon got over on the right but the centre’s conversion was off-target.

Carrick finished the half strongly following a weaving break by Rian Costello but Buccaneers held their line intact to lead 12-0 at half-time.

Now aided by the wind, the Leitrim lads were soon on the offensive and Costello slalomed through the Buccs defence for a try that gave a big lift to his teammates. Jack Moolick converted and, five minutes later, the captain’s second conversion nosed Carrick 14-12 ahead, following a try from the alert Kieran.

This score put it up to Buccaneers and they were not found wanting with Kelly in the vanguard of their recovery. They pounded the Carrick line for a period with Finnan’s stretch being just short but the young Pirates remained focussed and they were rewarded when Peter Bourke burrowed over for an unconverted try to regain the lead eight minutes from time.

They then survived a late scare when Carrick made a late desperate attack to take the spoils but Finnan produced a try-saving tackle to ensure the trophy headed to Athlone.

Lennon’s prodigious boot kept pegging his opponents on the back foot and his centre colleague Oisin O’Donoghue did a lot of good work too, while Andrew Cotton and especially the zippy McGowan were a top-class half-back pairing. Kelly was pick of the pack where Evin Claffey dominated the lineouts.

All in all this was a tremendous team performance while the losers from upriver on the Shannon can take pride and consolation in their contribution to an excellent final.

Buccaneers: P. Finnan; R. Nagle, D. Lennon, O. O’Donoghue (captain), J. Bourke; A. Cotton, H. McGowan; C. West, J. Kelly, J. Ryan; E. Claffey, P. Bourke; R. Colleran, R. Dolan, N. Kelly. Replacements: V. Kotsiuba (for West), O. Egan, D. Cleary, S. Byrne, S. Nugent, H. Hannon and A. Brown.

Carrick-on-Shannon: S. Gaffney; A. Copley, R. Costello, J. Moolick (captain), J. Kieran; C. Kelly, O. Beirne; M. French, J. Keville, S. McGreevy; R. Connolly, C. O’Brien; I. Martin, A. Hewson, C. Slevin. Replacements: C. McDermott, A. McNiff, A. Bryan, P. Mullaney, C. Haupt, R. Gavican, L. Charles and J. Prior.

Referee: John Fitzmaurice (Connacht).