Firsts 31 – Midleton 13

Galwegians secured only their second 4 try bonus point of the season in a match that although there was 1 red and 3 yellow cards, was played in an excellent spirit on a mucky, wet and windy day in Crowley Park on Saturday.

Wegians, playing with a stiff breeze, got out of the blocks early when forcing a penalty just inside the Midleton half early in the match. Fullback  Tadhg Leader's prodigious boot landed the long range penalty to give the home side a lead they would never relinquish. 2 mins 3-0

The pack were asserting early dominance and setup the first try of the game off a lineout maul. The visitors had repelled the initial surge but they had left their blindside exposed in doing so and Leader sliced through the cover to crash over in the corner, he expertly converted his own try. 9 mins 10-0

Wegians were cruising at this stage, but hit something of a major pothole when centre Brian Murphy was show the red card for throwing a haymaker. From the resulting penalty Midleton got on the scoreboard. 13 mins 10-3

The home side took a while to get back into their stride as they adjusted to playing with a man down. However the pack were still exerting pressure and forced a yellow card upon Midleton on 30 mins. They then spent the next few minutes pounding at the Cork teams try line before prop Jason East battered his way, he is a veritable try scoring machine this season. 36 mins 17 - 3

However the visitors were not going to lie down and scored a try right on half-time to keep the game in the melting pot. Half-time Galwegians 17 Midleton 10.

The Sky Blues now had to play into a stiff breeze while down a man, it looked like it would be a long 40 minutes, especially when Midleton tagged on an early penalty. 43 mins 17 - 13.

Things got even worse for the home side when out-half was harshly sin-binned on 47 minutes. The adversity brought some of the best rugby that Wegians have played all season.  Half way through the sin bin period the Sky Blues  scored an excellent try when Leader ran a superb support line off scrum-half Barry Lee, who had taken a quick tap penalty just outside the 22, to score under the posts. John Cleary converted as Leader injured himself as he completed the score. 53 mins 24 - 13.

Another yellow card was brandished to the visitors a couple of minutes later. The proliferation of cards does a dis-service to the spirit that the game was being played in, but it did keep the entertainment value on the high side.

Wegians garnered only their second try bonus of the season when the pack earned a penalty try as they marched Midleton back over their goalline. 54 mins 31 - 13.

The game more or less petered out in the last 20 minutes and there was no further scoring or card brandishing as it reached its inevitable conclusion. Full-time Galwegians 31 Midleton 13.