Firsts 0 – Cashel 43

It was a very tough day at the office for Galwegians in AIL Division 2a when they went down to a strong and clinical Cashel side at Crowley Park on Saturday.

These sides last met in April when Wegians won in hugely impressive style by 50-15 at the same venue However only four of that Wegians team started this weekend which tells a story, as Brian McClearn’s side was ravaged by injury.

For all the odds stacked against them, the young Wegians side started brightly playing against a stiff first half breeze. They took the game to their opponents from the off, but when they coughed up possession inside their opponents 22, the visitors ran the ball and served notice of what was to come when they sauntered upfield. In the blink of an eye they carved out an opportunity when talented full-back Jonty Rae found a gap and burst through for the opening try after barely four minutes. The Kiwi converted to make it 7-0.

Wegians tried to get back into it and they almost got in when improvised out-half Rory Gaffney made an intercept moments later, only for some desperate scramble defence to keep them out. The visitors then used the elements to secure territory and they largely camped in the Wegians 22. They stretched their lead after 20 minutes when they patiently went through the phases before releasing full-back Rae again who dotted down near the left corner for an unconverted try.

The Tipp men continued to dominate, and the Blues were defending well for large parts. However the hosts were caught off guard when the visitors scored their third try on the half hour, when their big no. 8 Mike Casey picked and went off the base of a scrum to dive under the posts and push his side 19-0 clear. They didn’t have to wait long for the bonus point to arrive, this time out-half Darragh Lyons getting in on the scoring when he crossed near the posts to stretch their lead to a comfortable 26-0.

This is how it stayed at half-time, although Wegians came close to opening their account just before the break when Hugh Lane charged down a clearance kick and set up an attack on their try-line, but the hard-working visiting pack kept the Blues at bay. There was to be no let-up in the pressure from the visitors and after 46 minutes, sub scrum-half Josh Pickering took a pass from no. 8 Casey and managed to wriggle his way through the cover to score a fifth try.

With the game beyond them, the Blues kept plugging away but their cause wasn’t helped when prop Ryan Lomas was binned on 54 minutes. Cashel didn’t take long to capitalise and sub Pickering grabbed his brace moments later. Although they never gave up the chase, Wegians had salt rubbed into the wounds when another sub James McCarthy intercepted late on to dive under the posts for his side’s seventh try. Despite their best efforts there was to be no consolation score for the Blues, who spurned some late kicking opportunities in an attempt to gain a morale-boosting try.

So the game petered out to give the Co. Tipp outfit their first-ever win over Wegians, capping a remarkable 6-month turnaround. Next up for Wegians is what is already looking like a vital contest away to fellow strugglers Dolphin at Irish Independent Park this Saturday.