Castlebar RFC face tough relegation battle after defeat in Dunmore

Castlebar RFC face a tough relegation battle after finishing bottom of the Connacht Rugby J1A League.

The last match of the round-robin round in Dunmore didn't yield points for the Mayo men. Castlebar travelled to north Galway on Saturday evening and were comfortably beaten by Dunmore.

This was a deferred fixture due to a power outage in Dunmore last December. This was also a tall order for the young Castlebar team taking on a team bolstered by a contingent of several South African players.

On a still and cold January evening, Dunmore won the first scrum easily in the third minute and continued to make progress with Conor Burns crossing in the fifth minute for a try he converted himself.

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Castlebar responded well making progress up field but could not match the physicality of the home team who brought the game back into the Castlebar 22 where Andrew Doherty crossed for their second try again converted by Burns.

Burns was on hand for his second on the half hour mark again converting. Sean Burns crossed on the 35th minute for their bonus point try which was again converted by Conor Burns leaving the half time score Dunmore 28 Castlebar 0.

Castlebar were better in the second half but failed to cross the Dunmore line. The hosts added two more tries, Bradley Hughes in the 54th minute, converted by Burns and Jamie Coen in the 65th for an unconverted try which left the final score Dunmore 40 Castlebar 0.

Castlebar now face a relegation playoff next on the weekend February 21/22 against Buccaneers 2nds. The winners will play the top team in Div 1B to decide for the final spot in the J1A League for next season.

Castlebar : David O’Donnell, Adam Murphy, Sean Tonra, Carl Jackson, Brian O’Flaherty, Leo Bailey, Cathal Fahey, Bryn Graham, Conor McInerney, Seán O'Grady, Matthew Flannelly, Luke Staunton, Enzo Rago, Stephen Burke.
Replacements : Sean Collins, Oran Cresham, Stephen Rogan, Damien Togher, Orann Bourke.

Dunmore : Christopher Donlon, Jamie Geraghty, Ronan Mullin, Sean Burns, Gary Duffy, Chris Fahey, Andrew Doherty, Malachy Joe Gavin, Jamie Coen, Gert Jacobs Coetzee, Bradley Hughes, Cathal Evans, Conor Burns, Jonathan Meehan, Dylan Brady,
Replacements : Cathal McDonagh, Stephen O’Toole, Brendan Walshe, Andrew Glynn, Finnian Cronin.

Referee Mark Fitzgerald.