RAINEY 24 – 20 SLIGO
AIL 2B 9th November 2024
Scorers: Lee(1*Try), Regan(1*Try), Davies(1*Try, 3*Conv, 1*Pen)
Home supporters were treated to a nail-biting finish on Saturday, as Rainey secured a vital home win against AIL 2B rivals Sligo. With the clock heading to full time, a try by scrum-half Davies to the right of the posts saw the home side edge a tightly fought contest to move to 6th position in the table.
In damp conditions, Rainey opened the scoring after 5mins, with Davies slotting over a tricky penalty from outside the 22′. An acrobatic overhead catch on halfway by fullback Regan started the next scoring move as he gained 10m. Quick ruck ball allowed Davies to send a long pass directly to centre Thornton in the middle of the park, and he sliced through the defence to take play to the Sligo 5m line. With the forwards arriving en masse, a few rucks later backrow Lee crashed over for the try. Davies added the extras.
Having settled into their game, Rainey were on top for almost the entire first quarter, but suddenly the momentum shifted. With Sligo’s only foray into the Rainey 22′, Rainey attempted twice to run the ball back from behind their own goalline, and gifted Sligo a turnover. They attacked left, and as the move broke down, No8 L.Montgomery saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on. Sligo kicked for the corner and set up a maul, which the Rainey pack initially resisted. Told to use it, the Sligo scrum-half spotted the Rainey line unguarded and spun left to cross the whitewash almost unmolested. Crucially, the conversion was missed.
Restored back to their full complement, Rainey camped in the Sligo 22′. Winger McLaughlin and prop O’Hagan both came close but the defense held firm.
With the half almost over, a scrum to Rainey on halfway offered another attacking opportunity, but a mix-up between the half-backs allowed the Sligo scrum-half to hack the ball to the Rainey tryline, where they won a 5m penalty for holding on. Adopting a straightforward approach, one of the Sligo locks tapped to himself and barged over to level the scores at halftime.
A penalty soon after the restart nudged Sligo into the lead and from a position of almost total dominance, the home side were somehow behind. With Sligo playing all the rugby, it was Rainey’s ability to steal lineouts and their superiority in the scrum that kept them in it, but once again they were to contribute to their own downfall. A silly retaliation saw a scrum awarded in midfield reversed to a penalty for Sligo. They kicked deep, and when Rainey’s return failed to find touch, Sligo counterattacked from their own 10m line. Halted on halfway, they spun the ball wide to the right touchline, bypassing Rainey’s narrow defence. A simple pass and two ineffectual tackles later they had their third score in the corner, the conversion giving them a 10-point cushion.
Rainey forced their way back downfield, and a speculative crossfield kick from Hardy to McLaughlin resulted in Sligo being reduced to 14 men for a dangerous tackle. Davies sent the ball into the right corner and the home tails were up once more. A catch and drive brought them close, but as the forwards pounded the short side, drawing in the defence, the Rainey backs stretched left. Finally, Davies released the ball to Hardy and it was transferred across for Regan to go in at the corner. With Davies landing a beautiful touchline conversion, it was Game On.
Both teams had chances, but with 10mins on the clock, Rainey were gifted a 5m penalty in front of the Sligo posts. Taking the tap, they staged a series of drives for the line until a mistake gave Sligo the turnover, and the opportunity seemed to have slipped away. Attacking once more from deep, another high tackle from Sligo gave Rainey a final throw of the dice. Kicking for the corner, they set up another maul, and then a series of drives took them to the front of the posts. From the base of the ruck, Davies coolly dummied right and dived over untouched for the score, before adding the conversion.
Still, there was to be further drama, as the official allowed one final play and Sligo regained the restart. With the home support on tenterhooks, Rainey’s discipline held and they finally forced a knock-on to end the match.
Several Rainey players had outstanding games, but for his imperious performance in the lineout and around the park, the 1st XV Man of the Match award went to Adam Montgomery.
