Galwegians outgunned by UL Bohs in the second-half
Galwegians suffered an 35-12 defeat at home to UL Bohemians on Saturday, a week after their first win of the season at Greystones.
Both sides came into the game with one win from five, looking to move clear of the bottom of the table, and it was the visitors who made the brighter start. They took an early lead through a penalty from out-half Cian Case but the hosts, back in Division 2A for the first time in seven years, defended well and began to look threatening with ball in hand.
When Bohs prop Jake Considine was sin-binned near the end of the first quarter, they took full advantage. Following clean lineout ball, they swung it wide, and winger Paul Sharkey, a late replacement for Darragh Kennedy, finished on the right for a well-taken try. Jacob Johnson’s perfect conversion turned a 3-0 deficit into a 7-3 lead.
The visitors responded by playing plenty of the rugby, but the Blues defence coped admirably. Casey added another penalty to reduce the arrears, but for the second time in the game, the Blues responded with a well-worked try.
They attacked down the short side, and Johnson ignored an overlap outside, cut back inside his marker and scored near the left corner. He was unlucky with the conversion, but it left the hosts 12-6 in front.
That is how it stayed until half-time, although the Wegians were under the pump when second row Oisin McNicholas was sin-binned just before the break, but they got through that spell with their lead intact.
The second-half was a different story. Bohs came out of the blocks and caught the Wegians cold, taking the lead within three minutes of the restart.
They swung the ball right in a very similar move to the Wegians’ opener, and this time Zak O’Loughlin crossed in the corner. Casey judged the wind to perfection with the conversion, putting his side a point ahead.
Although they were back to 15 men, the Blues didn’t heed the warning, and when they failed to clear their lines a few minutes later, full-back Darragh O’Gorman ran down the right wing, evaded several tackles with ease and scored an opportunistic try. Casey landed another excellent conversion, and suddenly there were eight points between the sides as UL Bohs opened a 20-12 lead.
The hosts finally showed some urgency as the game entered the final quarter and went chasing the game, but their lineout began to malfunction, with three consecutive turnovers when in promising positions, and as the Wegians’ heads dropped, the visitors’ confidence soared.
With the Blues forcing the game, a loose pass was intercepted near halfway, and although debutant winger James Lowry hauled down his man near the line, the damage was done. Moments later, back row Rowen Slater crossed under the sticks, with Casey adding the formalities to make the game safe.
The visitors rubbed salt into the wounds when they scored a deserved stoppage-time bonus-point try, courtesy of captain O’Gorman again, to cap a miserable second half for the Blues as UL Bohs outscored their hosts 29-0 after the break.
Head coach Brendan Guilfoyle has a lot to ponder as he prepares his side for the third block of games, which begins away to Queen’s University on Saturday fortnight, November 28, as the league enters a two week break until then.
Galwegians: C Brady; P Sharkey, R Deacy, Z Nichol, J Lowry; J Johnson, A Lindner; E Ferry, D Maguire, L Murtagh, B McHugo, O McNicholas, J Butler, B Power, A O’Brien.
Replacements: C McGrath, K Brady, T Walsh, R McHugh, G Ukwuoma.
UL Bohemian: D O’Gorman; J Johnson, Z O’Loughlin, P Clancy, B Sharp; C Casey, M Lyons; J Considine, D Ferrar, J Ryan, S Staunton, P Galvin, R Slater, C McNamara, L Neilan.
Replacements: J Kahler Slater, R Dixon.