West Offaly Lions News

Ireland and Munster player Denis Leamy made the trip to Ferbane last friday to present the U13 squad with their Connacht Cup medals, Denis is a cousin of Marion Gilligan our club secretary and he made the trip from Cashel Co. Tipp where he had just finished training to present the medals to the lads, it was a very enjoyable evening. A very big thank you has to be said to Gallen Community School for allowing the hosting of the event to Mr John Irwin and Mr Bernard Quigley, and also to every one else involved who helped organise the ocasion and made food and refreshments on the night it was greatly appreciated.

Denis then made his way to Gleeson's where he also presented the Junior squad with their J1B league medals, the haggard was full to the rafters and a great night was had by everyone involved, and another big thank you to everyone involved in the organising of the event and to Danny Gleeson for hosting the event.

Pictured here is captain Colin Kenny with his parents after recieving the Cup.

The West Offaly Lions U13's created more history as the overcame a strong Sligo side to win there first and probably only Connacht Cup

Sunday the 11th of April saw West Offaly Lions Under 13s travel to a sun drenched Ballyhaunis RFC for the final of the Connacht Cup. Beautifully prepared surroundings and arguably the best weather of the year was the perfect backdrop for what proved to be an incredible game of rugby.
 
West Offaly had beaten Ballina, Castlebar and Ballinasloe on their way to the final and awaiting them was a much fancied Sligo team who had been very impressive on their march to the final. As the game kicked off Sligo established early dominance and set up camp in the young Lions 22. The first few minutes saw the Ferbane based outfit struggling for a foothold in the game but Sligo at this stage were into their stride with many of the West Offaly team coming up short in the early exchanges. West Offaly were relying on some last ditch tackles to keep the scores level and did so in the early minutes thanks to Ronan Butler and Tom Corcoran in particular who tackled with great bravery, however an early Sligo score looked inevitable and minutes later the pressure told forcing a mistake from West Offaly who were now 5-0 down after five minutes. Worse was to follow however as almost straight from the kick off Sligo again attacked and after some more mistakes by the Lions and some incisive attacking play Sligo had made it 10-0. The only positives for the Lions being that both conversions had been narrowly missed. The alarm bells were ringing loudly in the ears of the players now.
 
West Offaly at this stage were down but definitely not out and the belief that had grown in earlier rounds now started to shine through. Led by inspirational captain Colin Kenny the Lions started to carry ball back at Sligo and a mixture of great off loading and passing led to numerous line breaks. The incredible work of Dean Guinan, William Phair and Conor Kelly in the front row meant that West Offaly started to edge the physical battle and provide good ball for the accurate passing of the ever dangerous Joseph Daly Lowry. Midway through the second half a flowing move involving forward and backs saw Colin Kenny slice through the Sligo defence for a great try which he converted himself. 10-7 Game on.
 

Pictured here is Ronan Butler holding the cup with his parents and younger brother Conor

West Offaly now began to move through the gears and the remainder of the first half saw the game flow from end to end, Jack Clancy who had switched to full back was a calming influence and dealt confidently with the probing kicks of the Sligo half backs as well as attacking with great flair and imagination himself. With half time moments away West offaly mustered another attack, this time the ball fell to Ryan Heavin from a Colin Kenny offload. Moving with great speed Heavin sprinted toward the corner evading tackle after tackle before scoring in the corner. 12-10 to West Offaly. Half time brought a welcome break from the increasing heat but also a warning that a Sligo backlash was on its way.
 
Sligo started the second half like men possessed and this well drilled and talented outfit led by their number 8, out half and right wing  started to dominate possession. Their tactic was clearly to move the ball wide and attack!! Enter Oisin Kelly and Anthony Seery  who provided a display of aggressive tackling and control in midfield that symbolised the teams work rate never letting the Sligo attack through. In fact both players looked sure to be out of the game through injury but battled on bravely and led by example to those around them.
 
Sligo were eventually rewarded for their efforts and a penalty saw them retake the lead 13-12. The Lions refused to give up and marched down the field once more, accurate throwing in the lineout from the impressive Kevin Kelly gave a great platform to attack and a combination of pace in attack and great defence from wings Brian McEvoy and Diarmuid Guinan meant that West Offaly slowly started to pin Sligo back. Darren "The Bull" Buckley replaced the hardworking Jack Quinn  added dome freshness to a now jaded pack. West Offaly badly needed a score and their prayers were answered with 12 mins to go with an almost identical try to their second. Kenny sidestepped through the Sligo defence before being tackled, quick ball was supplied to Heavin who set off on an arcing run towards the corner in a foot race with the sligo defence, Heavin had to deal with an approaching side line and multiple tacklers but pushed on by great cheers from the West Offaly supporters and at full stretch managed to grab a vital score in the corner. Even though the conversion was missed The Lions still led 17-13. For the last ten minutes West Offaly attacked with great purpose this was highlighted by the runs of Tom Corcoran who was not only  playing for himself but also his injured brother John who had delivered man of the match displays in earlier rounds. West Offaly narrowly missed two kickable penalties to widen the gap and were almost made to pay for it when Sligo made a last brave charge for victory but tackles from Seery, Clancy, Kenny and most noticeably continuous tackles from flankers Butler and Corcoran ( both of whom had tackled hard from the first minute)  kept the attacks at bay. With the young Lions almost out on their feet they were greeted with the sweet sound of the final whistle. Cue great celebrations and joy as fans mentors and parents celebrated with the players on what was great achievement for all involved. Captain Kenny thanked Sligo for a great game as well as thanking all the members of the panel who had worked so hard to get the team to the final as well as all the support from parents and sponsors Sean Corcoran and a special thanks to Gallen CS for the use of their grounds throughout the year and all their support. The last job was to lift the cup for the large crowd which was greeted with the loudest cheer of the day and return to Ferbane as Champions.

Below we have the team after their hard earned victory.
 
Panel W Phair C Kelly K Kelly J Quinn R Butler T Corcoran Dean Guinan R Heavin J DalyLowry C Kenny A Seery O Kelly Diarmuid Guinan B McEvoy J Clancy M O'Shea D Buckley J Corcoran J Gannon D Ryan R Davis S Fleming

The West Offaly Lions commenced their playing season in the Connaught J1B League with a winning score line of 28 - 3 over a fine Ballyhaunis team on Sunday 4^th October 2009 in Ferbane.

After a lot of West offaly pressure the first score of the match came from a penalty kick by scrumhalf Paul Deely, who went on to score a further 2 penalties during the game.the Lions had the Ballyhaunis team under a lot of pressure but in fairness there defence stood strong and it wasnt until late in the first half that Colin Malone crossed for the first try and Anthony Quinn crossed half way through the second half for the second try which the conversions were kicked by Paul Deely who's place kicking was excellent all day. Donal Corbett came on in place of the injured Richie Clancy, this being the only substitution of the day for the home team and West offaly started to carve holes and gaps in the Ballyhaunis defence but only for silly mistakes and handling errors the Lions cold not increase there score. Ballyhaunis did force the Lions into defence for a lot of the second half in search of a score but Ballyhaunis's only score of the day was from a penalty kick taken by Martin Finnegan in the second half of the game, which pays tribuite to the hard work done in defence by the West Offaly Lions.The final score came from a try by team captain Ronan Guinan. However, on this occasion the West Offaly Lions failed to make the conversion with a near miss by Paul Deely. It was a good start to what promises  to be an interesting season for the West Offaly Lions and hopefully the wins continue.

Many thanks to Danny Gleeson (Gleesons Bar & Lounge, Ferbane) for the use of his premises after the match. Also thanks to the management and staff of Supermacs in Ferbane as sponsors of the food for the season.

MINI Rugby continues next Sunday 11^th October 2009, at the Technical Field in Ferbane at 11.30am. All welcome.

Last Tuesday the 2nd of December saw the presentation of the team polo shirts to some of the team sponsors, Brendan and David Flaherty of Flaherty Fuels Ferbane and Paddy Molloy of Gem Garden Centre Cloghan. We would like to thank all our sponsors for there commitment to the club because without them the club could not survive.

Captains Ronan Guinan and William Farrell presenting Brendan and David Flaherty with the team Polo shirt

Ronnie and Willie presenting Paddy Molloy with the team polo shirt.

We would also like to extend a huge thank you to Ann Marie Sorohan of Ferbane Pharmacy who also made a presentation of a full medical kit to the club.

Annemarie presenting Peter Mooney and Seamus Guinan with the fully equipt medical kit

Also thank you to Danny Gleeson for hosting the presentation as well.