Sligo kickstarted their All Ireland League division 2B campaign with a well deserved 18-11 win over Malahide at Strandhill on Saturday.
Tries from Brian West and Calum Goddard and 8 points from the boot of Euan Brown proved sufficient to see off the challenge of the north county Dublin visitors.
Despite the inclement weather in the days preceding the match, Hamilton Park was in excellent condition as the teams took to the field. The visitors kicked off with Sligo playing towards the airport end.
Sligo came out of the blocks immediately, owned the possession in the early stages, and were rewarded with a well taken try with 10 minutes on the clock. From a penalty near halfway scrum-half Brendan Cunningham took a quick tap and made his way to the visitors' 22 before linking with centre Finn Bamber.
Bamber was hauled down 10 metres out and Malahide were penalised at the resulting breakdown.
Brown kicked to the corner and the forwards took over. Hooker Matthew Earley threw to Rob Holian and the pack marched forward before the maul was halted short of the line.
Kuba Wojtkowicz and Jason East both carried strongly before West eventually breached the defence to the left of the posts. Brown converted.
Malahide immediately responded and looked to open their own account but Sligo’s defence was resilient with Enda Gavin, in particular, putting in a tremendous defensive effort with some bone-shuddering hits and the immediate danger was averted.
Following the resumption Malahide opened their account with a penalty on 45 minutes and followed up with a second 2 minutes later to close the gap to the narrowest of margins, but Sligo responded with an excellent try on the hour mark.
From a scrum on the Malahide 10 metre line, Hubert Gilvary made a searing break down the right hand side, breaching the defence, before linking up with Calum Goddard (pictured) who raced clear and finished on the right extending Sligo’s lead out to six points.
Brown added penalties on the 65th and 75th minute marks to put the game out of reach before Malahide picked up their only try with the last move of the match.
Next for Sligo is another home game with the visit of Rainey RFC.
The match kicks off at 2.30 in Hamilton Park next Saturday
Sligo team
Calum Goddard, Hubert Gilvary, Finn Bamber, Enda Gavin, Daragh Feehily, Euan Brown, Brendan Cunningham, Kuba Wojtkowicz, Matthew Earley, Jason East (Captain) Rob Holian, Jake Sexton, Daire Byrne, Brian West, Donnacha Byrne. Reps: Shane O’Hehir, Craig Trimble, Michael McMorrow, Ross Hickey, Ken Pearson.
Saturday's Energia AIL Division 2 B results
Sligo 18 Malahide 11
Galwegians 21 Corinthians 58
Greystones 25 Dungannon 15
Rainey Old Boys 21 Belfast Harlequins 25
Wanderers 38 Enniscorthy 22
