Buccaneers crash out

BUCCANEERS crashed out of the Connacht Senior Cup when Connemara won not only the penalty shoot-out but also the right to play Corinthians in the final after the sides had been dead-locked after both normal and extra-time at wet and windy Galway Sportsground on Wednesday night. The teams were tied 8-8 after 80 minutes and 15-15 on 100 minutes in front of a spartan attendance that would have been even more sparse had Corinthians no interested observers present to witness the mixture of drama and farce on offer! Both sides were short regulars with Buccaneers perhaps hardest hit where their backline had only one recognised Senior regular starting in Alan Gaughan who operated at out-half, a portent to next season perhaps. However, despite being near enough to full strength in their pack, the Buccs forwards never curbed the Blacks who seemed far more interested all through in rolling up their collective sleeves all the way to the very end in the testing elements. They upset the odds but were richly merited victors on a memorable night for the Clifden club. They had first use of the elements although playing up towards the graveyard corner but Sean Joyce missed two penalty kicks in the opening quarter. Buccs first real opportunity did not materialise until 28 minutes when Marcus Madden broke through but he was whistled back before advantage was allowed with a scrum being awarded to his side. Connemara finished the half strongly, Alan Keogh scything through the middle but Billy Henshaw intercepted his lay-off while Darragh Sweeney lost possession when tackled following a lineout close to the Athlone side"s goal-line and so a near forgettable first half ended scoreless. Buccs were initially more business-like on the restart as they went through the phases to bring possession into the Connemara 22 and, when the ball was spread wide, Conor Lavelle did well to hold on to it for a 43rd minute try on the right. Buccs edged further ahead when Gaughan landed a 69th minute penalty after Connemara strayed offside to lead 8-0. That should have been that but, as happened Buccs too frequently for their own good this season, they again failed to close the game out. Typical too of Connemara, they continued to battle and got a boost when Joyce landed a close-in penalty on 74 minutes. They finished strongly with Buccaneers perhaps feeling that they had enough done and, following a series of scrums throughout added time, right winger Richard Bourke somehow found space to get in for an 85th minute try wide on the right to level the scores. Young Joyce was unable to land the difficult conversion with the last action of normal time. Connemara had first use of the elements for extra-time and left winger Peter O"Toole finished off for a well-worked try after just three minutes. Joyce"s conversion gave the Blacks the lead for the first time. Connemara"s 15-8 advantage was gone inside a minute of the second period of extra-time with Michael Diffley getting a good blockdown and then driving forward following a close-in tapped penalty before Kolo Kiripati powered in for a try which Gaughan converted to make it 15-15. This left Buccs in a good position to drive on and they seemed to have secured passage to the final when Gaughan fastened on to turned-over possession with just three minutes remaining to scamper to the line. The out-half clearly knocked on when grounding the ball but referee Tom Horkan signalled a try but, following the intervention of touch-judge Seamus Phillips, he reversed the award. This caused some heated debate, even though there was an undoubted knock-on, as there were strong views that the match official cannot 'undo' a score! However, 15-15 it remained and, in all fairness, justice was done when Connemara came out tops in the penalty shoot-out for they were the more committed and consistent outfit on a black night for below par Buccaneers. BUCCANEERS: C.Lavelle; B.Henshaw, S.Brady, K.Turley, D.Fagan; A.Gaughan, M.Dolan; M.Diffley, M.Madden, K.Moran; P.Burke, J.Tormey; K.Kiripati, C.Watters and A.Hanley (captain). Replacements used: K.O"Gorman (for Tormey, inj. h-t), P.Harte (for Turley, h-t), G.Halligan (for Madden, 47 mins), B.Gilligan (for Diffley, 62); Diffley (for Moran, inj. 79). CONNEMARA: A.Keogh; R.Bourke, P.Madden, M.Foyle, P.O"Toole; S.Joyce, G.Conroy; K.Barry, O.Delappe, E.Ferron; A.Kelly, K.Keogh; S.Charlton, D.Sweeney and B.Keaney. Replacements used: D.Mullan (for Charlton, 62 mins); J.East (for Barry, 70). REFEREE: Tom Horkan (Connacht).