Men’s Firsts 24 – Malone 19

Galwegians Men’s XV continued their perfect start to the AIL Division 2B season with a fourth successive bonus-point victory, overcoming a determined Malone side 24–15 in a hard-fought encounter at Crowley Park on Saturday.

Both teams came into the contest unbeaten with three wins apiece, so something had to give. The Blues started brightly and took an early lead in the eighth minute when in-form centre Rob Deacy crashed through the Malone defence to score under the posts. Conor O’Shaughnessy added the simple conversion to make it 7–0.

However, Galwegians suffered an early setback when centre Stevie Mannion was forced off through injury. His departure prompted a reshuffle in the backline and gave Tiarnan Neville the chance to make his AIL debut this season after a year’s absence, coming on early at full-back.

The visitors made it clear they hadn’t travelled just to make up the numbers, matching the Blues’ intensity and ambition in an open, expansive first half. Galwegians created several good opportunities to extend their lead but were unable to capitalise, and although Malone rarely threatened the line, they remained competitive. Just before the break, Matty Rea slotted a penalty to reduce the deficit to 7–3 at halftime.

Malone came out strongly after the restart, and within three minutes of the resumption, out-half Rea sliced through some soft defending to score under the posts before converting his own try, giving the Belfast side a 7–10 lead. It was the first time since the opening round that Galwegians had fallen behind, but they responded impressively to the character test.

The home pack began to reassert control, and in the 53rd minute, left-winger Oisin McKey made a superb break down his opposite wing that had Malone scrambling. Although the initial surge was halted, the next phase saw McKey go close again in the left corner before Deacy was on hand to finish the move and bag his brace of tries. Although O’Shaughnessy’s conversion drifted narrowly wide, the hosts were now back in front, 12–10.

Wegians pushed on and extended their advantage just before the hour mark. Following a sustained multi-phase attack, substitute scrum-half Andrew Sherlock fired a sharp pass to David Walsh, and the exciting lock forward powered over from close range for Galwegians’ third try. O’Shaughnessy converted this time to make it 19–10, putting the Blues firmly in control.

Malone refused to lie down, however, and after Galwegians squandered a five-metre lineout opportunity, the visitors struck back with a breakaway try. Replacement back Josh Pentland sliced through the defence and sprinted clear to score near the right corner for an unconverted try, leaving the score at 19–15 and setting up a tense finale.

But Galwegians finished strongly. In the closing minutes, they camped on the Malone line, and after several pick-and-go efforts, the ball was eventually spun wide to right-winger Cody Farrell, who crossed in the 78th minute for his first ever AIL try and securing crucial bonus-point try. That sealed the victory and preserved Brendan Guilfoyle’s side’s 100% record, with maximum points from four games.

Galwegians now turn their attention to a provincial derby against Sligo at Crowley Park on Saturday, November 1^st (2.30pm), as they look to maintain their position at the top of the table, with UL Bohemians sitting just one point behind.