Firsts 10 – Highfield 35

It was a case of déjà vu for Galwegians on Saturday when they went down to a second consecutive defeat at the hands of Highfield in their return fixture in Cork in UBL Division 2A.

Last week the Blues dominated the opening period before suffering a calamitous second-half where they shipped forty points. However this time the Corkmen started with intent as they put down an early marker by scoring two tries in the opening ten minutes. The first came from a break near halfway by centre Luke Kingston who took a great line, broke the first tackle before waltzing through the midfield defence to score under the posts, with Paddy O’Toole converting. Within a matter of minutes and the hosts had bagged a second try, taking advantage of Wegians being a man down in defence to work space for winger David O’Sullivan who skipped inside his marker to dot down under the posts.

It looked very ominous for the Blues at this point, however they soon steadied and grew into the game, owning most of the territory and possession for the remainder of the first-half. Unfortunately their inability to take advantage of their opportunities came back to haunt them again, spurning some opportunities close to the line. Admittedly they were not helped by the dreadful wet conditions which made handling extremely difficult. They had to settle for a penalty from out-half Morgan Codyre on the half-hour to open their account.

Any chance of regaining a foothold in the game was soon dashed when the hosts scored a third try, this time James Daly finishing off a move near the left. Wegians had another chance to capitalise just before the break, but unlike their opponents they were unable to make it pay, leaving the gap 21-3 at half-time.

Unfortunately for Wegians the injury count was also mounting as they lost two front-row forwards, having to play much of the game for fourteen men which didn’t help their cause. The game was made safe for the hosts when they bagged their fourth try soon after the restart, when Kingston rounded off a steal from a lineout maul to weave his way over near the left, with O’Toole’s again converting for a 28-3 lead.

The game was effectively over at this point and it became a very scrappy affair thereafter. Although the conditions eased somewhat, the error count was high on both sides. It looked like it would peter out with no further score, until the last five minutes when each side scored late on. Highfield captain Miah Cronin latched onto a botched Wegians lineout in their own 22 to slide over for his side’s fifth try, and in the final play, Wegians’ out-half Codyre made an intercept near halfway to run under the posts for a consolation try for the visitors.

This marked a seventh straight game without a win for the Blues who only garnered three points during a miserable run, and the break cannot come quick enough as they will seek to regroup and haul themselves off the bottom of the League table.