Firsts 0 – UL Bohemians 18

Galwegians turned in their worst performance of the season when they were outsmarted by UL Bohs at Crowley Park at a blustery Crowley Park on Saturday.

Playing with a stiff first-half breeze, Wegians owned the territory for the first 40 minutes. Out-half Peter Durcan was off target with a kickable penalty from 30 metres on 7 minutes, which was his only attempt at goal, despite the home side being awarded no less than eight first-half penalties. But for all their pressure, the bottom line is they made no impression on the scoreboard, leaving the game scoreless at the break.

In contrast, the visitors wasted no time in taking advantage of the elements in the second-half. An early Fergal Lawlor penalty from in front of the posts opened their account, and on 48 minutes they scored their first try. It came from some majestic backline handling involving Munster duo Paul Warwick and Barry Murphy, who combined to send full-back Mark Butler free who crossed the whitewash in the left corner. Substitute Warwick was wide with the conversion, but ten minutes later he struck a good penalty to stretch their lead to 11-0. On 69 minutes the ex-Connacht player completed the scoring when he rounded off a switched backline move in the right-hand corner, and he landed an excellent conversion to put the visitors out of sight.

Wegians rallied towards the end, prompted by substitute scrum-half Robbie Shaw and they were held up twice over the line in the dying minutes. But even still it was a case of far too little too late for a woefully sub-par Blues side, with a lack of leadership and heart the most disappointing aspects of this performance. Indeed a number of the Wegians players can consider themselves lucky if they retain their place for next week's fixture at Greystones.