Sunshine, picnics and some great rugby end Tag season

The Friday before Race Week in Galway was traditionally associated with factory and business holidays as the people of the city prepared for the Ballybrit festival.

To that can be added the finals night of Tag Rugby at Corinthians, which has just completed its eighth successful season at Corinthian Park.

Almost 1,000 players and hundreds of spectators came to play in and watch 35 games including 13 finals on the night.

The ‘end-of-season’ feel and bright sunshine made for a party atmosphere, with picnics and beer on the terrace for those who finished early and a fantastic party in the clubhouse later for everyone.The couple of hundred cars which were still in the Corinthians Car Park on Saturday morning were strong evidence of a great night enjoyed by a lot of revellers.

The fine evening probably also contributed to some excellent rugby with several teams putting on great exhibitions of free-flowing play at all levels with the girls prominent amongst the try-scorers.

The Higher Level trophy was awarded to The Wafflers who got the better of a high-scoring encounter, beating Buskers Mangled Badgers 26-17.

In Division 1 the Cup went to Fancy A Tag 2 who edged a close contest against San Quentin Tags 10-8. The Plate was won by Your Auld One who overcame Front Door Flyers 25-5 and the Bowl by Lambs to the Slaughter.

In the Division 1 Spoon final the Gang Green team, based out of Dún Uí Mhaoiliosa, just pipped DUFFS 7-6 in a tight contest.

The Division 2 Cup was won by Sons of Pitches while the Plate went to HP Saucier and the Bowl to Coyotes.

Special mention must go to Oldanew who won the Division 2 Spoon in a real thriller against Tag Me Maybe. Having been well beaten in their first five matches, their victory in the Fancy Dress competition must have inspired them as they won their remaining five games to win their first trophy in the summer league after years of near-misses.Cisco 49er’s took the Beginners’ Cup while Fidelity Flyers and Can We Kick It won the Bowl and Spoon trophies respectively.

There was another close encounter in the Beginners’ Plate final as Merit Meteors and Gadaffi Ducks battled it out in a tense match. Both teams were virtually inseparable in the league stages and Meteors eventually won out 13-12 to take the trophy.

So the curtain comes down on another very well organised tournament at Cloonacauneen as the curtain goes up across in Ballybrit. Thursday nights for the rest of the summer will seem very quiet.