Men’s Firsts 17 – Malone 14

Galwegians made at five wins out of six when they overcame Belfast side Malone in their AIL 2B clash at Crowley Park on Saturday to firmly keep their play-off hopes alive.

Played with an unusual crosswind in Glenina, both teams tried to play an open expansive game but early chances were at a premium. The opening score came at the end of the first quarter and it went the way of the visitors. Although Wegians were awarded a penalty in their own half, a moment of indiscipline saw the penalty reversed. The visitors gratefully accepted their opportunity by kicking to the corner, and although the initial line-out maul was repelled, several phases later their flanker and captain Dave Cave went in under the posts for the game’s opening try. Out-half Matty Rea tagged on the simple conversion for a 7-0 lead.

The Blues didn't take long to respond and they got their first try in the 24th minute. Their back line had been threatening throughout, and when left-winger Oisin McKey placed a lovely grubber kick down the right flank, it was right-winger Finn Treacy who was on hand to claim the ball and cross for his side’s opening try on the right. Stevie Mannion misjudged the difficult cross-wind which left the visitors 7-5 ahead.

The second quarter was evenly contested and it was Malone who struck next just after the half-hour mark. Following a line-out near halfway, out-half Rea spotted a gap to slice through the cover, before jinking around two flailing tackles to score an excellent individual try under the posts, which he converted to nudge his side 9 points clear. The visitors enjoyed most of the possession and territory for the remainder of the first-half but neither side were unable to add to their tally before the break.

Wegians came right out of the blocks upon the restart as they needed an early score to get back into the game, and it duly arrived in the 45th minute. In a carbon copy of his try up north last autumn against the same opposition, it was inside-centre Mannion who used his pace and power to bulldoze his way past three defenders and cross the whitewash, rounding under the posts to give himself a simple conversion and reduce the deficit back to just two points.

This gave the Blues the shot in the arm they needed, and they would go on to utterly dominate the third quarter, with the forwards on top and their backline looking hungry for ball. Mannion was off target with a long-range penalty effort, but their pressure eventually told just before the hour mark when hard yards by the pack sucked in the numbers. With the ball spun out wide, a deft off-load from Oisin Halpin found Darragh Kennedy with space on the right, and the full-back grounded the ball in the corner for his second try in consecutive games. Although Mannion narrowly missed the conversion attempt, this put the Blues ahead for the first time in the game 17-14.

In the final quarter Wegians continued to play nearly all the rugby, yet for all that they never seriously threatened getting a bonus fourth try. However they were managing the game well, securing their set-piece to deny the visitors an attacking platform. With time running out Malone had to try and work their way out from deep, only to meet rock solid disciplined Wegians defence who held their line. Then in stoppage time an excellent jackal by Kennedy won a penalty near halfway, and that was the last act of the game meaning the Blues deservedly held out to avenge their narrow last-gasp defeat in Belfast in October. This win keeps them in fifth place, with the play-offs very firmly in their sights as they enter the final four games of the League proper.