Men’s Firsts 29 – Malahide 22

It simply had to come, and last Saturday at their eighth attempt, Galwegians finally got over the line and secured their first win in this season’s AIL Division 2B with a deserved bonus point victory over bottom-team Malahide.

This was the proverbial must-win game for both sides as it was bottom versus second-bottom. The visitors came into this game in a torrid run of form, but playing with a near gale fore wind blowing down from the clubhouse towards the Dublin Road, they made a dream start. When awarded the first penalty of the day near halfway, an excellent kick to the corner set up an attacking 5m lineout. Hooker Lee Byrne launched a perfect throw to the tail and following a well-set maul, the Dubliners drove their way over, with prop Amkela Nontso claiming the touchdown. Centre David O’Halloran landed an excellent conversion to put his side 7-0 to the good.

If this was to signify a dominant first-half from the visitors, it proved something of a false dawn. Having licked their early wounds, Wegians immediately regrouped and quickly set about their business. Playing into the wind they had to play a possession game which started to force some penalties, and within five minutes they were on level terms. When a penalty was kicked into the opposition 22, hooker Eoin  Ferry found Bobby Power with a clean lineout take and a strong 15 metre forward  rumble had the visitors on the back foot. Scrum-half Andrew Sherlock had the luxury of ignoring his outside backs when he sniped through the cover to score midway between the posts and touchline. Stevie Mannion judged the wind perfectly to curl his effort over the bar for 7-7.

Wegians then dominated the next 20 minutes with near total control of the ball. On 22 minutes their dominance was rewarded when the in-form centre Rob Deacy barged his way over following more spadework from his forwards, with Mannion tagging on the simple convert for a 14-7 lead. The Dubliners could find no respite and were unable to use the elements to create any territory. They had to repel wave after wave of Wegians attacks, and it was no surprise when the Blues scored try number three on the half-hour mark. Following a great line-out steal by captain Oisin Halpin, slick hands fed Shane Mallon on the right and he linked brilliantly with full-back Darragh Kennedy who dotted down in the corner. Mannion’s conversion sailed narrowly wide, leaving it 19-7 to the Blues.

Malahide had it all to do at this stage, however to their credit they rallied well and another well-worked lineout maul saw hooker Byrne score near the posts. O’Halloran converted  to reduce the gap to five points, and the Blues had to withstand a late onslaught before the break when some dogged defence held their line intact to maintain a 19-14 half-time score.

Although the wind died down somewhat, in the second-half it was still very much in Wegians’ favour, and they soon set about their business. The inevitable bonus point try came just six minutes after the restart. This time Kennedy turned provider to Mallon following a jinking run and deft offload to the Connacht Academy winger who crossed near the posts, giving Mannion a relatively simple conversion to restore a twelve point advantage. More Wegians pressure gave Mannion a penalty opportunity in front of the posts in the 51^st  minute, which he duly slotted to make it a three-score game at 29-14.

At this point it looked like the Blues might press on and hammer home their advantage, however Malahide had other ideas. Both sides rung the changes from the bench, and it was the visitors who regained the initiative when they produced some of their best rugby in the final quarter. Using some of their big ball carriers, they ground their way forward and just after the hour mark they scored their third try through substitute hooker Lee O’Grady, when he finished yet another lineout maul near the left corner for an unconverted try.

This left a ten-point gap heading into the final quarter. With nothing to lose the visitors went all out in attack, with their set-piece gaining ascendancy and some nervy errors from Wegians not helping their cause. For all that, the visitors rarely threatened in the 22 as the Blues defence did enough to keep them at bay. With a minute of stoppage time remaining, they opted to kick a penalty close-in to reduce the margin to 29-22. There was still time from the restart for some possible late drama, however this time Wegians closed out the game in opposition territory, winning one final penalty in the last play. However Mannion’s long-range effort drifted wide, meaning the visitors went home with a consolation bonus point.

This all-important victory saw Wegians leapfrog their provincial rivals Sligo to eighth place in the League table. This sets up a crunch game this Saturday in Strandhill where these two sides go head to head in game round nine, the final League game of 2024. It promises to be another cracker as these sides played out a 36-34 thriller at the same venue in the Connacht Senior League in August, where Wegians will be intent on seeking revenge for losing in the last minute.