Heavy defeat sees Blues slide closer to the drop

Galwegians 10Lansdowne 39

For the second time this season, Galwegians suffered a comprehensive defeat at the hands of Lansdowne where they were outscored by five tries to one at Crowley Park on Saturday, as the cash-rich Dublin 4 side put on a powerhouse display to consign ‘Wegians to a third successive defeat in Ulster Bank Division 1b.

Playing with the aid of a strong first-half breeze, ‘Wegians went on the offensive from the start. However they were unable to convert territorial possession into points, with an off-target 12th minute penalty from out-half Tadhg Leader the closest they came to scoring. 

And they were made pay when the visitors struck a decisive blow with the opening score in the 15th minute. It came from a turnover near halfway when ‘Wegians scrum-half Barry Lee tried to link up with his captain John Cleary. Instead it was Lansdowne scrum-half John Cooney who instigated an attack, when he scampered away down the blindside, creating an overlap for right-wing Ciaran O’Boyle to dive over in the right-hand corner.

The Blues recovered and they did get off the mark when Leader converted from in front of the posts at the end of the first quarter, following some sustained pressure in the visitors 22. But that was as good as it got for the hosts in the opening half, and just before the half-time whistle, Lansdowne put themselves in a commanding position with their second try, when a majestic reverse flick-pass by full-back Eoghan Hickey put centre Kieran Lewis clear in the right-hand corner. Hickey rubbed salt into ‘Wegians’ wounds with a touchline conversion to give the visitors a 12-3 half-time lead.

With the breeze at their backs. Lansdowne wasted little time in asserting their dominance in the second-half, with Hickey and former Connacht out-half Dave Hewitt kicking to the corners to keep the Blues pinned deep in their own half.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.