Women 41 – St Marys 5

Galwegians kicked off to an exhilarating start when Mairead Coyne opened the scoring in the first five minutes of the game with a try which allowed Galwegians to settle nicely into the game.

Galwegians continued to be the dominant team for all of the first half, Coyne again scoring the second try of the game two minutes later at seven minutes in, converted by the out-half Clare Raftery. A mere three minutes later Nicole Fowley further crushed St. Mary’s spirits when the speedy 13 sailed over the line with a try, converted once more by the ever reliable Raftery.  Mairead Coyne ran in two further tries bringing the scoreline 29-0 totalling her cascade of tries to four.

Both second row Denise Reamonn and scrum half Mary Healy combined brilliantly with 10 minutes to go before the half time whistle. Reamonn heroically robbed a St. Mary’s ball in the ‘Wegians 22 which in turn Healy capitalised on, kicked and chased purposefully down to the St. Mary’s 22. St. Mary’s Niamh Connolly attempted to halt the no. 9’s gallop with an off the ball tackle. This resulted in a penalty try being awarded to the Blue Belles. Raftery converted the try bringing the half time tally 36-0.

The second half saw Galwegians face blustry difficult conditions. St. Mary’s appeared to be finding their feet both attacking and defending well. Staunton for St. Mary’s attempted to get over the line on two occasions however Galwegians captain no. 8 Edel Mc Mahon’s steely determination and strength robbed her of the privilege and was held up on both occasions.

Galwegians demonstrated a solid convincing performance from 1-22 and this was very evident with brilliant breaks from Laura Feely and Noreen Coyne. Feely(3) nearly secured a try from a great break in the first half with good support from Cary (7). Noreen Coyne (20) made a fantastic break chasing tenaciously from her own 22 to the St. Mary’s 22 with Ruth O’ Reilly running closely in support. However this fearless effort was defended well by St. Mary’s.

Galwegians performed well at set piece time particularly in the line-out seeing Galwegians secure their own ball and on three occasions Mc Mahon (8) secured St. Mary’s ball. Despite poor weather conditions Galwegians demonstrated good handling skills and executed passes with precision.

Ciara O’ Connor (2) kept the Wegians score board ticking over with a superb try fifteen minutes into the second half. St. Mary’s Shayne Richardson, centre, retaliated and secured St. Mary’s only try 60 minutes into the game   bringing the scoreline up to 41-5.

Galwegians’ attack was excellent in the first half however blustry and difficult weather conditions played a huge part in the second half performance.

Cooke beat Railway Union at the weekend 14-7. Galwegians will face Cooke at their home turf at Crowley Park this Sunday 18-09-16 in what promises to be an extremely competitive and physical encounter. All support welcome.