There is no game for the firsts this weekend as the preliminary round of the Connacht Junior cup gets underway which we fortunately have avoided. We have however been drawn away to Gort in the first round on the 27^th of March and this is a very important game that we must win and with All Ireland Junior cup qualification certainly there to be taken, we must beat Creggs away on the 13^th as the top four in the province will qualify for that competition. Players will be notified of arrangements at training.

Training continues on Wednesday evenings and all players travelling are asked to be at the courthouse at half six. New players are always welcome as the team continue their preparations. Contact Nicola for more details.

The under 18 team continued their preparations for the cup with a solid 17-3 win over Ballina under lights on Friday. The tries coming from Nigel Byrne and Ronan Conway.

The under 16 team travelled to Athlone on Friday last to take on the home side in the under 16 cup. Sadly due to injuries and late defections we were slightly under strength. This did not deter the team as they gave a wonderful display of rugby but were unfortunate to be beaten by a strong Athlone team determined to advance to the next round. Only two late tries put a gloss on the scoreboard as Castlebar threatened throughout the second half. Best in a brilliant team performance were Alan Regan, Shane Casey, the full back row and the halfback pairing of Fintan Casey and Neil Douglas.

Castlebar: Darragh Irwin, Conor Walsh, Alan Regan, Shane Casey, Liam Sweeney, Darragh Mulgrew, Damien McLoughlin, Fintan Casey, Neil Douglas, Steven Mohan, Niall O’Beirne, Conor Douglas, Alan Gill, Mark Conlon.

Man of the match: Damien McLoughlin.

The mini rugby teams of Castlebar took centre stage over the weekend with three teams in action all over the province in two blitzes and a friendly with good results for all teams. The under 8’s were in action in Galway as guests of Galwegians and produced some excellent rugby winning three of their four games. What was great is that all players got a game and everyone enjoyed themselves.

The under 10 team were in Ballina for the Connacht Blitz and played outstanding rugby heading their group. Sadly that was as far as they could go, as they were unlucky to make the final. This is a good team and will go places and no longer are they interested in just showing up to play but to win.

The under 12 team are also in blitz action over the weekend in Corinthians and qualified from their group for the quarterfinal. Their opponents in the quarter final were Athlone who were the strongest team of all the teams there and Castlebar were not afraid of their performance, defending like Ireland last Sunday and very unfortunate to be beaten 2-0. They can take great heart from this and will go further in the years to come.

Training continues for all teams next Saturday at the pitch at 11am sharp.