Men’s Firsts 25 – UL Bohs 24

An 87th minute try by Jack Winters saw Galwegians snatch a dramatic victory from the jaws of defeat against play-off rivals UL Bohemians at the UL 4G pitch in Limerick on Saturday.

This was a game between 5th vs 6th and was always going to have a huge bearing in determining who makes the playoffs for promotion to Division 2A. Wegians started brightly and a Stephen Mannion penalty after two minutes put them in front. This was followed by a long-distance effort in the sixth minute which came back off the post, as the Blues were making an early statement. However the students would strike back in the 12th minute when a missed tackle saw them burst into the 22 for the first time. Following a series of pick and go’s, they worked an opening with prop Kean Sheehy crossing the whitewash near the sticks, which was converted by Oisin Fagan for a 7-3 lead against the run of play.

The Blues were dealt a big blow on 15 minutes when they lost Argentinian lock Gonzalo Alvarez with an unfortunate elbow injury, however he would be ably replaced by Paddy Dolphin. The visitors continued to play most of the rugby and they soon regained the lead. It came from quick thinking by scrum-half Andrew Sherlock who tapped a quick penalty near the 10m line and caught the hosts napping, running the blind side where he found his out-half Ryan Roche unopposed to score their opening try near the left corner, and nudge them 8-7 in front.

Wegians continued to dominate the second quarter, and things got better before the half hour mark when a superb passage of continuity play involving both forwards and backs was finished well in the right corner by winger Oisin McKey. Mannion was off target with another difficult conversion, and a 13-7 lead was no more than the visitors deserved.

In a see-saw contest where the lead would change hands six times, Bohs struck back to regain the lead shortly afterwards. When centre Paul Clancy dodged too many tackles in midfield to create another opportunity, they once again profited and in a carbon copy move, this time it was their other prop, tight-head Kian Regan who finished it off for their second try, with the simple conversion from Fagan nudging them back in front by a point. However the Blues deservedly regained the lead before the break to reflect their dominance. Following a strong burst through the middle by centre Rob Deacy which punctured the rearguard, quick hands fed fullback Darragh Kennedy who crossed on the left. This time Mannion found his range with the conversion to give the Blues a 20-14 half time advantage.

Although playing against a minor breeze in the second half, Wegians continue to dominate and play all the rugby. Mannion tried his luck with another long-range penalty but was slightly off target, and despite setting up camp in the opposition half, the Blues were unable to make their dominance pay, being guilty of over-complicating at times when opportunities came their way.

A key momentum-changer came on the hour mark. With the Blues looking set to score a bonus fourth try and with an overlap looming, out-half Roche spun a pass out wide that was perfectly read and intercepted by the Bohs winger and captain Darragh O'Connor, who raced home from his 22 and could not be caught, diving under the posts for a sucker punch score. Fagan’s simple conversion put them ahead once again by a single point.

This sucked the life out of Wegians and put a real pep in the step of their hosts who scented blood. They went in search of the killer bonus fourth try as they dominated the final quarter, only to meet some superb dogged Blues defence who twice forced a turnover on their line to relieve the pressure. Fagan tagged on a penalty near the end to push the gap out to four points, and with the game well into stoppage time, Bohs were penalised for a double movement when they thought they had bagged the all-important bonus winning try.

What followed was a remarkable passage of play where the young Wegians side dug deep into the well of guts, desire and inner belief. Three penalties later, following perfectly placed line-kicks from Roche and pinpoint line-out darts from Ryan Smith, they worked their way into the red zone. They kept their nerve and after hammering away at the opposition line, Winters somehow burrowed his way through a forest of red jerseys to ground the ball for the winning score and secure a bonus point for good measure.

Having suffered so many last gasp heartaches at the start of this season, it was no more than Galwegians deserved. This win sees them leapfrog their hosts into fifth place in the table, just two points off fourth with the promotion play-offs well in their sights. Next up for the Blues is another vital game this Saturday (2.30pm) when they host Belfast side Malone in what could have a huge bearing on the final outcome of the season.