Firsts 20 – Buccaneers 9

Galwegians secured their second win against Buccaneers in Dubarry Park with a 20 -9 victory in the Connacht Senior Cup semi final. Buccs fielded a much stronger than the league fixture two weeks ago and this was evident in the early exchanges.

The Athlone outfit settled quickly with both forwards and backs taking advantage of a firm sod. However, Galwegians defense was well organised and despite absorbing a lot of pressure, they never seemed in danger of conceding a try.

Buccs lead 6-3 mid way through the first half with two penalties from xx cancelling Ross Shaughnessy’s penalty.  Buccs extended the lead with an excellent piece of individual skill from their out half, who dropped a goal from the half way line following a Galwegians 22 drop out.

Galwegians pack slowly got on top as the half progressed and were rewarded shortly before half time, when a rolling maul, following a line out 10 meters from the Buccs line resulting in a well taken Galwegians try.  Paul Griffin was attributed with the touch down. Shaughnessy converted to leave Wegians leading 10-9 at half time.

Galwegians continued to dominate the forward exchanged in the second half.  The Buccs pack was heavily penalized as they tried to cope with the constant pressure.  After 50 minutes the sight of the entire Galwegians front row of East, Fitzgerald and Griffin being substituted must have come as a relief to the Buccaneers.  However, their replacement, Naughton, Muldoon and McHugh exerted even more pressure on Buccs. A fine penalty by Shaughnessy and another well executed driving maul with Conor Muldoon touching down, converted by Shaughnessy put Galwegians out of sight at 20-9.

Coaches Cory Brown and John Muldoon will be pleased to have expanded their backline options before commencing the AIL campaign. Dave Clarke made his seasonal debut, playing the second half at outside half, allowing Shaughnessy to move to full back. Dave Symes acquitted himself well in his first outing of the season, while “Shaggy” had a fine game in the back row.

Captain Brian McClearn emphasised the importance of the next two weeks in terms of preparation for the AIL, which starts with a difficult away assignment to Ballymena on Saturday 28^th September.