Wegians leave it late in local derby

Galwegians 12Buccaneers 11

A last-gasp drop-goal by centre Dave Clarke saw Galwegians snatch victory from the jaws of defeat to deny their arch-rivals Buccaneers in a tense and dramatic derby in AIL Division 1b at Crowley Park on Saturday.

The match was preceded by a minute’s silence to mark the recent passing of Bobby Deacy, Galwegians’ trustee and ex-President of the IRFU. The game itself was played in dense fog which made visibility difficult for both teams, but it was the visitors who started much the brighter.

Although lying in bottom place in the table, Buccs displayed much more urgency than their hosts and it was the Midlanders who took the lead in the 12th minute through a penalty from their South African out-half JH Potgeiter.

Wegians failed to heed the warning signs, and despite having a heavier pack, they were being dominated in both the possession and territory stakes. And it was no surprise when Buccs scored the first try of the game on 25 minutes.

It originated with a Wegians error from a lineout which saw them concede a scrum near halfway, and an excellent backline move with swift passing at pace saw centre Brian Tuohy create the opportunity for full-back Conor Lavelle who crossed near the left-corner for a superb score. Potgeiter missed the difficult conversion attempt, meaning Buccs were 8-0 to the good.

This was probably a poor return for the visitors who will feel they should have been much further in front, such was their dominance at this stage. However it did seem to finally spark the Blues into action, as they suddenly injected some urgency into their game in the last 10 minutes of the first-half.

Their first scoring opportunity came from a penalty by Rob O’Beirn from 30 metres, after Buccs were pinged for hands in the ruck. Then when lock forward Liam Scahill was impeded five minutes later, the young full-back and Ballinasloe native O’Beirn added a second penalty to reduce the gap to just two points.

This was how it stayed at the break, and Wegians started the second-half in the ascendancy and didn’t have to wait long to take the lead for the first time, as O’Beirn landed his third straight penalty in the 46th minute from the left-hand side after Buccs talismanic back-row forward Kolo Kiripati was sin-binned for a shoulder-charge. However despite continuing to dominate proceedings, Wegians were unable to take further advantage of the extra man, as a succession of unforced errors and some resolute Buccs defending saw them unable to stretch their lead.

After spending almost the entire third quarter on the hindfoot, the pendulum almost inevitably swung back in Buccs’ favour. Having lifted the siege, they spent the final 15 minutes of normal time camped deep in Wegians territory as they were pressing for the winning score.

With time nearly up, Buccs winger John O’Brien almost got in on the right-corner only to be held up by some heroic defensive cover by the tireless prop Ja Naughton.

Although severely under the cosh, the Wegians’ defence held firm and was admirable in its discipline, as they conceded no penalties during this time. But just as it seemed they would hold out, they were finally pinged by referee Richard Kerr in the cruellest of circumstances.

When after a drop-goal attempt by Potgeiter was charged down under the posts, substitute hooker Conor Muldoon pounced on the loose ball, only for the referee to judge him being in an offside position. This handed Buccs scrum-half Adam Kennedy the relatively simple task of landing what appeared to be the winning penalty, as full-time was up on the clock.

However there was to be one final twist. A deep restart saw the home side put immediate pressure on their opponents, and they came close to scoring a winning try with both forwards and backs almost getting over the line.

Then the final dramatic act came in the 85th minute scrum-half Kieran Campbell fed Clarke who had dropped back into pocket to strike the winning kick. Referee Kerr immediately blew the final whistle to send the home side into jubilation and leave the visitors disconsolate. Next up for the Blues is a re-arranged fixture when they host northerners Ballynahinch this coming Saturday at Crowley Park (2.30pm).

Galwegians: R O’Beirn; A Esera, B Murphy, D Clarke, J Cleary; R Shaughnessy, K Campbell; J Naughton, D Murphy, J Stephens; L Scahill, B McClearn; A Conboy, I Muldoon, A Olive.Replacements: D Boyd for McClearn; C Muldoon for D Murphy; D Murphy for Olive (inj) D McHugh for Murphy; R Dillon for O’Beirn.Buccaneers: C Lavelle; S Stapleton, B Touhy, A Hayman, J O’Brien; J H Potgeiter, A Kennedy; B Gilligan, G Halligan, C Higgins; P Burke, J Tormey; K Kiripati, C Watters, C Rigney.

Replacements: M Staunton for Gilligan; B O’Carroll for Stapleton.