Buccaneers proudly participate in All-Ireland Mixed Touch Rugby Championship

The Buccaneers playing squad who journeyed to the Sport Ireland Indoor Arena to compete for the Liam Carroll Cup at the All-Ireland Mixed Touch Rugby Championship.

The Buccaneers playing squad who journeyed to the Sport Ireland Indoor Arena to compete for the Liam Carroll Cup at the All-Ireland Mixed Touch Rugby Championship.

The new touch rugby season returned in recent times, Buccaneers journeying to the Sport Ireland Indoor Arena to compete for the Liam Carroll Cup at the All-Ireland Mixed Touch Championship.

Buccaneers were understrength with a squad of 11 from a possible 14 travelling to Dublin. Despite this handicap they excelled, reaching the semi-final stage of the nine-team tournament and with a bit more luck they could easily have claimed a sensational bronze medal, suffering a narrow 5-4 defeat to Old Belvedere Touch in the third place play-off.

Buccaneers were placed in the four-team Group B with newcomers East Coast Touch, the Tipsters All Starz and Old Wesley Dolphins and they duly secured a place in the semi-finals with wins over East Coast (4-1 - scorers Ben Wolfe, Nigel So, Alex Connor, Gustavs Mitenbergs ) and the All Starz (4-0 - scorers Aoibhin Tynan, Ben, Feidhlim Byrne, Alex ).

In the final group match, Buccaneers faced a step up in class taking on Old Wesley Dolphins. The powerful Dublin side contained half a dozen Irish men’s and women’s open internationals and their sweeping moves put Buccaneers under constant pressure. Dolphins had built up a 5-0 lead as the game drew to a close but Buccaneers showed some defiance at the death when Aoibhin Tynan sliced through the defence from near half way for a try of the season contender.

Buccaneers took their place in the semi-final and it was almost déjà vu as they faced tournament favourites Old Wesley Touch. The well-drilled Donnybrook club employ the same high-pace, high-pressure tactics as the Dolphins and duly polished off Buccs 5-0 to qualify for the cup final.

Buccaneers were tiring at this stage after facing the two stacked Old Wesley squads but they regrouped and put in a big effort in the bronze medal match against Old Belvo. Buccaneers started the stronger and built up an impressive 3-1 lead with scores from Paul Gavin, Feidhlim and Alex. A seasoned outfit like Belvo were always going to come back into the game and so they did, scoring three tries to lead 4-3 before Dion Chitanda scored to give Buccaneers hope. Old Belvo scored late on to snatch the victory. It was a huge effort by Buccaneers to get so close to a medal and many put in a herculean effort.

Buccaneers - Denis O’Connor, Paul Gavin, Ben Wolfe, Aoibhin Tynan, Niamh Purtill, Alex Connor, Dion Chitanda, Gustavs Mitenbergs, Greg Frost, Nigel So, Feidhlim Byrne.

 

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