Two from two for Connacht Eagles

The Connacht Eagles defeated Munster A 19-15 in Limerick this evening. Eagles’ centre Jerome Harimate, who played with the Connacht Juniors last year, opened the scoring after 10 minutes at Garryowen FC with Tadhg Leader adding the convert.

Leader kicked a penalty to extend the lead after 21 minutes before Scott Deasy got Munster on the scoreboard 6 minutes later.

The half time score was 10 – 3 to the Eagles.

In the second half, Munster A leveled the score with a try from replacement hooker Duncan Casey, converted by Scott Deasy. But the Eagles were quick to take the lead again with two successive penalties from Leader.

A second try from Munster’s Barry O’Mahony, which the side failed to convert, meant the opposition were only chasing a point with three minutes to go.

But the Connacht Eagles certified the win with Leader’s 4^th penalty kick of the game and the final score finished up Munster A 15 Connacht Eagles 19.

This is the Connacht Eagles’ second clash and successive win against the Munster outfit. In their first outing as Connacht Eagles in August, the former Connacht A side defeated Munster A 19-6 at the Sportsground. Head Coach Nigel Carolan is delighted with his side’s performance to date: "We are obviously very happy with the outcome of the game but also in the manner with which we played. We were very efficient in our use of possession, which kept the scoreboard ticking over, but we also had to endure a lot of pressure in defence, particularly in the second half. While there were some excellent individual performances, the result of the game was testament to an effective team contribution. We can now look forward with confidence, to kicking off the B&I Cup in October on the back of two wins out of two outings."

Connacht Eagles: Steve Macauley; Conor Finn, Jerome Harimate, Finn Gormley, Matt Healy; Tadhg Leader, Marcus Walsh; Finlay Bealham, Kurt Haupt, JP Conney; Jonathan Gardiner, Danny Qualter; TJ Anderson (captain), Eoghan Grace, Dave Heffernan. Replacements: Peter Reilly, Jamie Dever, Robert Sweeney, Conor Kindregan, Aaron Conneely, Chris Lilly, Sam Johnson, Callum Boland.

Munster A: Johnny Holland; Ronan O'Mahony, Corey Hircock, Cian Bohane, Darren Moroney; Scott Deasy, Cathal Sheridan capt, David Kilcoyne, Sean Henry, John Ryan; Philip Donnellan, Cathal O'Flaherty; Brian Hayes, Barry O'Mahony, Shane Buckley. Replacements: Duncan Casey, James Cronin, Christy Condon, James Murphy, Sean Rennison, Neil Cronin, Richie Mullane, David Johnson.