Men’s Firsts 27 – Dungannon 28

In yet another cruel twist in their season to date, Galwegians suffered more last-gasp agony as they were undone when hosts Dungannon snatched the unlikeliest of wins at Stevenson Park on Saturday. Wegians utterly dominated and led this game for almost 70 minutes, yet somehow still ended up on the losing side.

The Blues came into this as firm underdogs in the eyes of many, facing the Ulstermen who were in second place in the table. Wegians head coach Brendan Guilfoyle was forced into making five changes, having lost the services of five Connacht Academy members involved in their game the previous week. Missing were backs Finn Tracey, Shane Mallon and Cian Brady, as well as back-row forwards Bobby Power and Eanna McCarthy. Into the starting backline came Rob Deacy, Cam Carruthers and Oisin McKey, while in the forwards Dylan Keane and no. 8 Liam Angermann returned from injury, the latter making his first AIL start of the season having recovered from a lengthy lay-off.

All had a point to prove and the Blues quickly put down a marker. They attacked the hosts right from the off, and before Dungannon had barely touched the ball, some patient forceful attacking rugby led to Rob Deacy finishing strongly in the right corner for the opening try.  Stevie Mannion, who partnered Deacy at inside centre, missed with a vey difficult kick into the cross-breeze.

Despite having the wind at their backs, Gannon were unable to make much impression as the Blues comfortably dealt with anything which came their way. However Wegians were unfortunate to lose the services of two starting front-row players in the first ten minutes - hooker Ryan Smith and prop Guerschom Mukendi. Although Mukendi returned late on, this would put severe strain on their resources which they could have done without.

Despite some loose kicking at times which invited opposition pressure, there was little to worry about for the Blues until the 23^rd minute when Gannon kicked a penalty to the corner, and following several phases their bulky inside centre Kyle Gormley finished a lineout maul by barrelling over near the posts. Scrum-half Toby Gribben added the extras, and the hosts suddenly led 7-5 against the run of play.

Undaunted, Wegians regrouped and again took the game to their hosts. They owned possession and territory for the remainder of the half, and a succession of 5m scrum penalties on the half-hour mark saw the hosts lose prop Sean O’Hagan to the bin, with Blues loose-head Kobi Joyce giving him a torrid time in the set-piece. With the away fans screaming for a penalty try, a fourth scrum was botched and the hosts managed to clear their lines. However it was short-lived as the Blues kept them pinned in their 22, and in the 35th minute, second-row Rob Holian grabbed his fourth try of the AIL campaign when he finished off good work by out-half Ryan Roche and Angermann wide on the left. Mannion added the extras and the Blues were deservedly back in front 12-7, which is how it stayed until half-time.

With a slight breeze at their backs, Wegians continued where they left off and went at their opponents in the second-half. They stretched their lead with a magnificent team score in the 45^th minute, when some superb handling from both forwards and backs finished with the outstanding Deacy diving over near the right corner to bag his second try of the afternoon. Mannion arrowed his conversion straight between the sticks to open up a 12-point lead.

Wegians continued to play all the rugby in the third quarter, and just before the hour mark they had secured their bonus fourth try. It came from another backline attack with a clever chip and chase from winger Cam Carruthers which forced the home defence to concede a 5m scrum. Another solid set-piece saw the ball move wide where winger Oisin McKey came into the line and spotted a gap to dive over near the right. Mannion was inches off target with the conversion, leaving the gap 24-7.

The home side needed an immediate response, and they soon got it. A penalty on the 10m line was kicked deep to the corner, and their captain James McMahon finished a lineout maul to score his side’s second try midway on the left. Gribben converted and suddenly the gap was reduced to ten points.  This gave the hosts real impetus and they kicked on. Suddenly their scrum got on top of a tiring Wegians pack, and the penalty count was now going in favour of the hosts. A key moment came on 69 minutes when a penalty set up another 5m lineout maul, and this time referee Kevin Beakey awarded a penalty try and sin-binned scrum-half Andrew Sherlock for his troubles.

Two minutes later and the Blues were reduced to 13 men when big Argentinian lock Gonzalo Alvarez was binned for a high tackle, and the Blues were reeling. However they dug deep and worked their way back upfield to earn a penalty near the 22m line, which Mannion knocked over to stretch the lead to six points with four minutes remaining on the clock.

This set up an agonising finale, and crucially Gannon won the restart and went on the immediate attack. Wave upon wave of attacks near the line resulted in centre Gormley using his bulky frame to barge over near the posts. Gribben’s conversion gave his side a one-point lead. With Sherlock back on the field, 14-man Wegians showed tremendous grit and determination to grind their way upfield, and in the final passage of play they forced a penalty near the halfway line. Up stepped Mannion to line up the posts from inside his own half. He comfortably had the distance but the ball drifted agonisingly wide of the right-hand post to deny his side what would have been a dramatic victory.

It was the cruellest of endings for the Blues whose luck is just nowhere to be seen near a rugby pitch right now. However they will have so many positives to take from this as the regroup facing into a 3-week break, before a vital home game against bottom side Malahide on Saturday December 7^th in Crowley Park.