Galwegians capture second-successive U-16 league and cup double
Hard-fought win in brilliant clash with Monivea goes the way of Glenina side
Galwegians U-16s capped a remarkable season by securing their second successive League and Cup double with a hard-fought 27-20 victory over Monivea in last Sunday’s Conancht Cup final.
‘Wegians made a dream start and were ahead inside eight minutes. A superbly executed cross-kick from Dara McGrath which almost led to a try by the excellent Sean Deely. However it did lead to a line out near the Monivea line, following a clean take, No. 8 Dylan McCullagh powered over for the opening try to give his side a 5–0 lead.
The early momentum continued, and by the quarter-hour mark Galwegians struck again with a moment of individual brilliance. Running from deep, captain Mark Allnutt carved through the Monivea defence with a mazy solo effort to touch down under the posts. Out-half Conall Mullarkey added the straightforward conversion to extend the lead to 12–0.
Monivea responded with typical physicality, their powerful pack carrying hard and earning a penalty directly in front of the posts, which was converted by full-back Thomas Screene to open their account. However, Galwegians reacted immediately.
Claiming the restart, slick handling in midfield created space once more for Allnutt, who showed sharp awareness to spot a gap and slice through for his second try of the afternoon. Another Monivea penalty from Screene kept the scoreboard ticking over, but ‘Wegians had the final say of the half.
Winning yet another restart, they forced an infringement and McGrath stepped up to slot an excellent penalty from near the touchline, sending Galwegians into the break with a commanding 22–6 advantage.
The second-half began in equally positive fashion for the Blues. Sustained pressure close to the Monivea line earned a 5-metre scrum, and Rory Bourke proved unstoppable from the base, picking and driving over for try number four to push the lead out to 27–6.
However, the contest was far from over. A yellow card to Bobby Glynn reduced Galwegians to 14 men, and Monivea capitalised, scoring from the resulting pressure and adding the conversion to narrow the gap to 27–13.
Their momentum continued, and with ‘Wegians again temporarily down a player, Monivea struck for another converted try after a sustained spell in the red zone, bringing the game back to a single score at 27–20 with time still to play.
With the pressure mounting, Galwegians showed impressive maturity. Their defensive effort held firm in the closing stages, while smart game management helped relieve the pressure.
A late high tackle on scrum-half David Casserly resulted in a Monivea player being sent to the sin bin, allowing ‘Wegians to regain control in the final moments to close out the win.
Galwegians: D McGrath; S Deely, S Fifita, M Allnutt, H Glynn; C Mullarkey, D Casserly; D Flanagan, O Parker, A O'Malley, R Phillips, B Glynn, R Bourke, C Brady, D McCullagh.
Replacements: C Murphy, C O'Donoghue, J Kaeane, J Godoy-Smith, N Fondja, C Murphy,m C O'Flaherty, W Cahill, L Kelly, W Post, K Nestor, AS O'Halloran, T Ryan, O Scanlon.