Men’s Firsts 30 – Buccaneers 17

On Friday night Galwegians took on Buccaneers in the final Connacht league fixtures of 2024, which took place in Dubarry Park, Athlone. After one of the warmest days of the year, the sun began to fade creating perfect playing conditions for this clash of teams from either side of the Shannon.

Buccaneers were quick off the mark putting Galwegians under pressure from the get-go.  A stolen lineout set up an excellent counter-attacking platform for Buccs before some smooth passing,  allowed fullback Jensen Nagle, to open the scoring. Out-half Gearoid McDonald converted to give the home side a 7-0 lead. McDonald didn’t waste any time to increase Buccaneer's lead to 10-0 after 14 minutes, Wegians failed to roll away, awarding their opponents an easy penalty.

The Blues found their feet in the 24th minute, out half Ryan Roche doing well to hold onto a stray pass, which he spread wide once gathered, which allowed speedster Oisin McKey to break down the wing and touch down. Stephen Mannion was unable to add the extras from out wide, the score stayed at 10-5.

Wegians began to grow in confidence and found themselves with a penalty on the 5 meter line. A quick tap-and-go saw Jack Haugh touch down in the second phase for their second try in quick succession. Mannion building on their lead 10-12.

Now in full flow, Galwegians came once again. Great interplay between Mannion and Roche forced Buccs back over their own line giving Wegians a huge attacking platform, with a five-meter scrum. Quick ball from the foot of the scrum found former Bucc’s man Mannion, who shot down the blind side and over the try line. He could not add the extras, as Wegians went into the dugouts 10-17 at halftime.

It was all Mannion in this second half, which saw him score the opening try of the second half. After a hectic first couple of minutes, a well-worked backs move opened up the gap for Mannion to glide through, this time Mannion made no mistake from the tee, which was closely followed by a penalty that he slotted giving Galwegians a 10-27 lead.

With time running out for Buccs, they went in search of a comeback, running hard at the Galwegian's defence and creating several scoring opportunities; however, sloppy handling denied them on more than one occasion.

With less than ten minutes to go, Cian Brady earned himself a yellow card for a high tackle. This was the time to strike for Buccs, but it was Galwegians who would take the points on this occasion. A turned-over lineout allowed the Blues to attack before earning a penalty in the middle of the field which Stephen Mannion slotted over to make it 10-30.

Just as the game looked dead and buried, Buccs launched one last effort. A fluid move saw centre Tom Shine dive over in the left-hand corner for the consolation try. McDonald nailed the kick from the sideline, which brought with it the final whistle, giving Buccs a more respectable final score of 17-30.

This win, along with Corinthians' loss to Sligo sees the Blues claim a spot in the Connacht Senior Cup Final on March 17^th where they will face Sligo, who had narrowly beaten Wegians earlier in the league.