Men’s Firsts 8 – Wanderers 13

An injury time Ryan Smith try earned Galwegians a hard-fought losing bonus point when they were beaten by Division 2B League leaders Wanderers at Crowley Park on Saturday.

With just four games to go, this was always going to prove a significant game. Wegians started brightly and took an early lead with a fourth minute penalty by Stevie Mannion with an excellent strike from just inside the opposition half. However that was as good as it got for the hosts in the first-half, as the visitors took a stranglehold of the game. They lorded both possession and territory for long periods and Wegians had to rely on some sturdy defence and iron-like discipline to protect their line.

On more than one occasion it looked like the D4 side’s relentless pressure would finally pay, only to be repelled time and again by an outstanding home defence where all fifteen players were being put to the pin of their collar. Twice the Blues forced a turnover on their line, and on another occasion they held up an attack under the posts. Just when it seemed the visitors were starting to get frustrated with their lack of return, they finally made the breakthrough in the 34th minute. Blues scrum-half Andrew Sherlock was sinbinned for a deliberate knock-on, and an excellent line kick to the corner set up another attacking line-out maul. This time the Wanderers pack got serious momentum and as they were hurtling towards the line, referee Mitchell Enderby gave a penalty try, giving the Dubliners a 7-3 half-time lead.

Wegians tried to assert themselves in the second half, but they were simply being starved of possession and denied any meaningful platform by the hard-working visitors. Wanderers’ out-half David Fitzgibbon landed a penalty in front of the posts on 51 minutes, and sensing a low-scoring game, he repeated the trick just after the hour mark to keep the scoreboard ticking over and stretching the lead to 13-3.

Both sides started ringing the changes and with fatigue setting in, there was a glimmer of hope for the Blues as the game entered the final quarter. The backline were beginning to get some scraps to feed off, but kicked away possession on too many occasions when keeping the ball in hand looked a better option. However they never stopped competing and their never-say-die attitude was rewarded in the last minute of normal time. An excellent penalty kicked to the corner by out-half Ryan Roche saw a perfect line-out take by the outstanding Oisin Halpin, and a perfectly executed maul saw sub hooker Smith get on the tail end as his hard-working pack mauled over the line to secure the all-important bonus point.

There was no denying the better side won, a point acknowledged by Wegians head-coach Brendan Guilfoyle who hailed his own side’s trojan defence and tenacity.

“Our defence was outstanding and probably fatigued us a bit, Wanderers were very solid and what they do, they do extremely well. They shut us down and forced us to kick the ball away probably more than we would have liked. But I’m really proud of the never-say-die attitude, determination and hard work which the lads showed to earn a losing bonus point, and that should stand us in really good stead. It was probably the best warm-up to the final block of three games, which are going to be really tough."