Match Result
- Result: Galwegians U16 B 19 - Monivea 12
- Venue: Sportsground on Mon Apr 9th 2012
- Competition: Connacht U16 Cup
Match Report
On a cold, blustery, showery Easter Monday, Galwegians and Monivea provided a display of no little skill, desire and determination which warmed the cockles of the 200 or so supporters who roared on both teams in a fitting level of support for a Cup Final.
Galwegians were playing into the stiff breeze in the first half and struggled to deal with the bigger Monivea pack early on. However they repelled the early strom and eventually broke downfield when No.8 Cathal Reidy outstripped the defense and setup Wegians first attack of the match. The backs showed some lovely hands to get the ball to left wing Rory Millar who skated over in the corner. 5-0.
Monivea hit straight back through their gargantuan pack and after a series of rumbles got their score out wide on the right. 5-5.
The sky blues were causing problems when ever they had the ball with slick handling, however the problem was that they were getting very much of the ball as Monivea were very effective at holding onto possession.
Wegians were defending solidly but eventually the extra physicality of the Monivea side wore down the defense and they got themselves a coverted try just before half-time. 5-12.
Wegians made a couple of substitutions in the pack to try and breath more life into it, the fresh legs made an immediate impact as Wegians, playing with the wind in the second half, put more pressure on Monivea. The backs were making good inroads, especially when slinging the ball wide.
The pack were now producing good quick ball for the backs and it was from one of these good ruck balls followed by quick hands from the half backs that put centre Cian Shaughnessy into space. A perfect dummy and a lovely sidestep split the defense and Shaughnessy got the equalising score. 12-12.
Monivea came steaming back into the game but some ferocious rucking defense from the blues forwards with hooker Luke Fahy to the fore kept them at bay.
Wegians, with more fresh legs on the field in both the backs and forwards, worked their way downfield. The fowards once again produced quick ruck ball and fast, accurate hands accross the backline made enough space for fullback Ruairi Burke to crash over in the corner. Shaughnessy produced a monstrous sideline conversion to give the Blues the lead with 5 mins remaining. 19-12
The final 5 minutes defense from Wegians showed their huge heart and desire as they defended like dervishes, with the Stringeresq scrum-half Cormac Furey leading the way taking down big unit after big unit. Monivea did everything in their power to score, but Wegians magnificent defense held out for the victory. 19-12 FT.
