Tuam 14 Castlebar 19

A second half Castlebar resurgence ended Tuam's participation in this season's Bank of Ireland Connacht Junior Cup.

Tuam led 11-0 at the break courtesy of two Dave Lally penalties and a Lally try before half time. However, Castlebar ran in three tries of their own courtesy of Eoghan Hughes, Barry Walsh and Michael Brink to secure an All Mayo quarter-final tie with Ballinrobe.

Tuam will be disappointed to have exited the competition at such an early stage having reached the semi-final phase last season only to be defeated by eventual winners, Westport.

After been left off the hook when Stephen Rogan missed a scorable penalty in the tenth minute, Tuam took the lead three minutes later when Dave Lally made no mistake with a Tuam penalty.

There was little to choose between the sides for the next twenty minutes as they cancelled each other out with both defences on top. However, that all changed in the 32nd minute with a try of sheer quality and class.

Tuam winger, Ian Murphy, chipped a kick down the line which he gathered before offloading to Killian McDonagh who in turn passed to Alan Tierney who had Lally on his shoulder and he finished the move by touching down in the corner. A brilliant Tuam try that lit up this round one cup tie. Lally added a penalty five minutes later as Tuam stretched their lead to 11-0 which they took to the break.

Castlebar needed to start on the front foot and they were boosted when Tuam's Mark King was sin binned 4 minutes after the restart. The away side took full advantage as they ran the resulting penalty and after a number of phases, David Staunton, with a skip pass, found the on rushing Eoin Hughes who touched down in the corner. Rogan brilliantly converted as Castlebar's revival was well and truly up and running.

Castlebar should have taken the lead ten minutes later when Michael Brink found a gap to break the line only to lose his footing as the try line beckoned. He managed to offload to Barry Walsh but to the homesides relief, a last ditch tackle forced a knock on.

Castlebar were definitely probing for a five pointer which would give them the lead for the first time and it arrived just after the hour mark as Walsh took a quick penalty and after a chip and chase he wasn't to be denied on this occasion as he touched down to give Castlebar 12-11 lead.

Tuam's response resulted in David Staunton conceding a penalty for which he was sent to the sin bin. Castlebar were further punished when Lally converted the resulting penalty to restore Tuam's lead.

However, Castlebar were finding a lot of joy down the left wing and Michael Brink exploited it once more when he got over for a third try for the away side. Rogan brilliantly converted from a difficult angle.

It set up a tense finish as Tuam desperately went in search of a try to keep alive their cup ambitions. A Tierney sin bin dealt them a blow in their efforts but they went agonisingly close on a number of occasions to rescue the situation. However it was not to be as Alan Bane's side held on for a big victory. Tuam will now enter the Plate competition while Castlebar face Ballinrobe in the cup quarter-final next Sunday at 2pm.

TUAM: D. Lally; M. King; R. Fahy; K. McDonagh; I. Murphy; C. Ward; A. Tierney; D. Noone; S. Maughan; N. Carney; J. Fahy; O. Halion; J. Terblanche; B. Ruane; C. Hurst.
Replacements: Mika; A. Lagaiaa; D. Gleeson; R. Cosgrove; S. Browne; C. Gleeson.

CASTLEBAR: S. Rogan; E. Hughes; L. Staunton; S. O'Grady; P. Flannery; M. Brink; B. Walsh; S. Staunton; J. Howley; R. Ipek; C. Jackson; S. Connolly; D. Staunton; M. Staunton; A. Wootton.
Replacements: L. Hegarty; D. O'Donnell; D. Flynn; B. O'Flaherty; J. Balaski; G. Totladze.

REFEREE: Simon Bennett.