Kelly’s late try grabs vital win for dogged Wegians

Young Munster 12

GALWEGIANS made it three victories on the bounce when they won in dramatic fashion with a last-gasp try to deny their visitors Young Munster in a pulsating contest at Crowley Park last Saturday.

As the corresponding fixture in early December was postponed due to the bad weather, both sides were relatively ring-rusty after a period of five weeks without competitive League action. In truth, it showed early on with errors abounding throughout, with poor handling and decision-making affecting the hosts in particular.

The visitors came into this game on the back of a four-game winning streak, and although they made the livelier start, it was the hosts who opened the scoring in the fifth minute. It followed some pressurised defence by the Wegians’ backline, and when an attempted chip through was blocked, left-wing Ed O’Keeffe latched onto the loose ball.

The former Young Munster man displayed some excellent control and footwork to hack on three times before gathering and diving over near the left-corner for the game’s opening try. Another former Munsters’ man, Wegians’ out-half Shane O’Leary was off target with the difficult conversion.

Undaunted by the early setback, the visitors took up where they left off and went on the offensive. Wegians were starting to get on the wrong side of referee Nigel Correll, especially at the breakdown, and Munsters’ centre Gearoid Lyons soon opened their account with his first shot at the posts in the 11th minute to make it 5-3.

The ever-mounting penalty count looked like being costly for the Blues, but a key turning point came on 15 minutes when another penalty at the breakdown was reversed against the visitors following the intervention of the referee’s assistant. This led to the harsh sin-binning of Munsters’ second-row Mike Madden in what seemed a case of mistaken identity.

Wegians took full advantage when the penalty kick to the corner set up a text-book lineout maul, with blindside flanker Marc Kelly getting on the end of the forward rumble to score try number two. O’Leary was again off-target with the conversion attempt, leaving the hosts 10-3 to the good.

Young Munster then went on the attack again at the start of the second quarter, and when Wegians no. 8 Anthony Ryan was binned for taking out a jumper in the air, they smelt blood. They looked certain to score when their dominant scrum set up a series of pick and goes near the hosts’ try-line, only for desperate Blues defence to keep them at bay. Young Munster settled instead for a three-pointer courtesy of a drop-goal from out-half Diarmuid O’Hanlon.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.