Sligo Grammar School travelled to Munster and took on a UL Bohemians side which included several academy players including past pupils Chris Nairn and Tadgh Power and Connacht U20, Paddy Finn.

The men from the Mall got off to a superb start and within minutes were 3 points ahead thanks to the boot of Pat Hughes. It wasn’t long before Sligo Grammar got in for their first of three tries. After a crunching tackle by Steve Butler, the ball spilt free allowing his cousin David to retrieve it and touch down under the posts. Pat Hughes added on the conversion leaving the score at 10-0.

Thanks to some elementary errors at the breakdown by Sligo Grammar School, UL Bohemians began to crawl their way back into the game and after two penalties from their outhalf they found themselves just 4 points down at 10-6. Grammar lifted their game and a set piece move off the line out allowed Aaron Spring to crash over the line. Unfortunately Pat Hughes was unable to convert but a thumping penalty from 50 metres on the stroke of half time made up for his earlier miss. The score was 18-6 at half time.

Fifteen minutes into the second half coach Jimmy Staunton made a number of changes to the team. All 8 subs were used but due to injuries and a shortage of cover for the backs, flanker Tom Callaghan and number 8 Danny Qualter were forced to play the remainder of the game at first and second centre. Sligo Grammar School came under some sustained pressure from UL Bohemians but some heroic defending, particularly from Scott Oates and Aaron Spring, kept them out. Unfortunately UL Bohemians breached the Grammar line and with the score now at 18-13, the game was in for an exciting finish. However some tactical kicking by replacement fly half Eoin Doherty meant UL Bohemians were pinned back in their own half.

In the 65th minute Scott Oates made a break from inside his own half and was just tackled 5m out, but a great steal in the line out by Colin Goulden allowed sub hooker Donal Rooney to dive on the loose ball and touch down in the corner to seal the game for Sligo Grammar School. This was a fantastic team performance and on the day Scott Oates, David Butler, Pat Hughes, Oskar Van der Grijn, Aaron Spring, Tom Callaghan and Danny Qualter were exceptional.

This game was supposed to be a warm up for the Connacht Tribune School’s Senior Cup on February 24th. This semi final had to be refixed for March 2nd as the quarter final between Ferbane and St Joseph’s Galway has not being played. Sligo Grammar School will travel to the winners of that game which is due to be played on February 27th.

However, Sligo Grammar School have arranged a mouth watering game with Leinster semi finalists St. Geard’s of Bray, who already have knocked out Leinster heavyweights Blackrock College and Terenure College in this years competition. The game is fixed for Monday the 22nd of February in Bray and should prove to be a stern test for this Grammar side and an excellent preparation for their semi final on March 2nd.

Sligo Grammar School: Scott Oates, Shane Creamer, David Butler, Stephen Butler, Peter Laffey, Pat Hughes, Oskar Van Der Grijn, Blyth McCormack, Gary McConnell, John Gill, David Heath, Evan O’ Donnell, Aaron Spring, Tom Callaghan, Danny Qualter, Peter Carson, Donal Rooney, Christopher Brady, Eamon Gorman, Colin Goulden, Gulio Schinaia, Eoin Doherty, John Healy