Crucial bonus point on road for Wegians

Galwegians 10

Galwegians secured a hard-earned point away to the in-form league leaders Malahide in AIL Division 2B on Saturday.

With the home side in a rich vein of form, the Blues weren’t given much chance by the pundits. However, they made an excellent start and took a deserved lead through a 10th minute try when lock Luc Culliton finished off a maul near the corner. The extremely breezy conditions made a conversion nigh on impossible, so the Blues led 5-0.

This rattled the hosts whose strong pack were being matched every inch of the way by the Blues engine room, which was magnificently led from the front by captain, Marty Cummins.

However, the Dubliners did eventually find a way back into the game with their first try on 26 minutes from Eoin Crowley, which was converted by Shane O’Brien to put them in front.

Wegians were on top for the remainder of the first-half, and had a chance to regain the lead when they were on the home side’s line for a few phases, but were unable to finish it off, leaving 'Malahide 7-5 to the good at the half-time break.

The Blues started the second-half poorly by slipping off tackles, and the hosts scored an early unconverted try through Rory Kavanagh to stretch their advantage.

However, the visitors responded well with an excellent try from a lineout maul on 50 minutes, with Kieran ‘Dint’ Downey getting the touchdown to reduce the margin to 12-10.

Less than 10 minutes later, however, the good work was undone when a mistake by Wegians at the base of the scrum saw them cough up possession in their 22. Malahide took full advantage when they scored a third try a few phases later through Daniel Hayes.

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

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.