Wegians break the mould in a bad season for local rivals
IN a season packed full of worrying signs for the club game in the west of Ireland, Galwegians have produced a trend bucking story that will live long in the memories of rugby folk in the west. The Sky Blues completed a remarkable campaign in Division 1b of the Ulster Bank League on Saturday by toppling Garryowen 17-13 in the winner-takes-all final round match up at Crowley Park.
The success is a credit to Matt Brown and John Muldoon (and the previous coach Cory Brown too) but it is also a credit to a team that has gone through a remarkable few seasons. Slipping out of the second tier three years ago, in the most dramatic of circumstances on the final day, and stalling in the third tier for a season before an incredible 24 months of success,
Captained by one of the club game’s most effective loosehead prop forwards in Ja Naughton, backboned by club stalwarts such as Ross Fitzgerald, Doron McHugh, Brian McClearn and Anthony Ryan up front, Barry Lee, Brian Murphy and John Cleary in the backline and then infused with fresh enthusiasm by a new generation.
Take Jack Dineen and Joshua Pim in the back row, Paul Hackett and Matthew Towey too. The backline was brimful of talent. Irish under 21 international Ciaran Gaffney a star, Rory Parata a weapon at twelve, Matthew Dever and Aidan Moynihan keeping the likes of Gary O’Brien out of the side. Even Connacht’s hero in Bayonne and academy graduate Caolin Blade couldn’t get a place in the starting line up with Barry Lee playing so well.
As we said last week, they got the balance right in terms of the use of players from the provincial set up and they may well have paved the way for other clubs in the province to follow in forthcoming years. Some will say they will find the challenge of Division 1a too difficult, but they have been written off for quite some time now and keep proving doubters wrong. That should be the motivation.
Poor Results
While Galwegians have deservedly nabbed the headlines this month, the news across the board for club rugby in Connacht is far from good. Corinthians and Buccaneers have unravelled in recent months, with the former relegated and the latter having thrown in the towel on the season with two months to spare once safety was secured.
In just seven seasons, Corinthians went from a ranking of 41st out of 48 teams in All Ireland League rugby (at that time) by the end of the 2007-2008 Ulster Bank League season to a record high ranking of 14th last year when they finished fourth in Division 1b under the guidance of Phil Pretorius. That’s a jump of 27 places in a comparatively short time frame.
The run started with promotion under Leon Jordan and Richard Evans, continued under Bernie Kelly as they established themselves as one of the top five sides in Division 2a for three consecutive seasons. They were then taken on in Division 2a by Pretorius, who took them up to promotion and then drove them to the fringe of second promotion to Division 1a before injuries took their toll late in the campaign.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.