BUCCANEERS 19 GALWAY CORINTHIANS 42
Galway Corinthians moved to the top of the Energia All-Ireland League Division 2A following a hard-earned 42-19 victory over Buccaneers at well attended Dubarry Park on Saturday. This contest was very much in the balance until the three-quarters stage when a home yellow card and penalty try awarded to the visitors sealed the win for the westerners.
On a dull but relatively mild afternoon both teams made changes from their pre-Christmas meeting in Galway. Fergus Galvin and Oisin Dolan were fit to return in the home pack where Jack Crampton also started. Jenson Nagle and Gearoid McDonald also returned after injuries in a rejigged backline that saw David Colgan sited at scrumhalf. Corinthians fielded seven changes in personnel. Fiachna Barrett, Johnny Hughes and Charlie Keane came into the pack where captain Mark Boyle moved to lock. James Nicholson, Tom Waters, Finn McNulty and Tomas Farthing all started in the backline.
There was an energy about Buccs warm-up and they hit the ground running. A Harry Hughes raid along the left flank led to a 4th minute penalty converted by McDonald. The unfortunate Hughes was injured in this phase and replaced by Adam O’Carroll who made an instant impact, winning possession on his own 22 and leaving the defence for dead to score a super 7th minute try wide on the left. McDonald’s conversion tailed narrowly wide but the Pirates had an encouraging 8-0 lead.
They lost possession in midfield eight minutes later and Corinthians countered swiftly with McNulty finishing off for a try which Sean Naughton converted. But Buccs responded promptly, O’Carroll again showing a clean pair of heels to the cover to notch his second unconverted try wide on the left. The midlanders continued to have the better of the exchanges and Ross Murphy-Sweeney was unlucky not to finish off a promising move at The Bounty corner while, following a fine series of pick and goes, the Shannonsiders were penalised for not releasing the ball just metres short of the opposition line. Nevertheless, they led 13-7 at half-time and could well have been further ahead.
Corinthians were rattled and a pair of McDonald penalties, the first following a high tackle and the second for a ruck infringement, shortly after the change of ends stretched the home side’s advantage to 19-7 after 46 minutes.
But the westerners got back in the contest five minutes later. Although Buccs got the ball awayfrom a scrum five metres from their line, the referee pinged them somewhat belatedly and following a tapped penalty Patrick Fahy got over the home line for a try converted by Naughton. This rejuvenated the Tribesmen and they got their noses in front just after the hour mark after they stole a Buccs lineout near halfway on the left. The ball was spread smartly to the opposite flank where Nicholson applied the finishing touch and Naughton added a fine conversion to edge Corinthians 21-19 ahead.
The floodlights came on as fog descended in tandem with a pivotal score arriving for the visitors. Patrick Egan was deemed offside when preventing a Corinthians touchdown and the young No.8 was sin-binned while the referee added further punishment in awarding a penalty try that gave the visitors the momentum and a bonus point.
Corinthians now had their tails up and they drove 7-man Buccs off a scrum (an area where the homesters had looked the better for most of the contest) with substitute Jack Pollard profiting to score a try. A Buccaneers U-20 player last season, the young hooker broke away from a maul to grab his second try in the final move of the match. Naughton maintained his 100% kicking rate converting both late tries to give Corinthians a 42-19 margin that flattered the victors.
Their passing was sharper and, with a handful of Academy players in their side, they were that bit fitter at the end. Nevertheless, this was a greatly improved display by Buccaneers for whom Tom Shine was the ‘Michael Moore Car Sales Player of the Match’. There was industry and commitment aplenty in this Buccs performance, easily their best of the season, that will rekindle optimism for the remainder of the campaign.
BUCCANEERS:- J.Nagle; R.Murphy-Sweeney, T.Shine, D.Hawkshaw, H.Hughes; G.McDonald, D.Colgan; R.Henderson, C.Daly, R.O’Meara (captain); L.d’Ambola Riera, F.Galvin; O.Dolan, J.Crampton and P.Egan. Replacements:- A.O’Carroll (for Hughes, inj. 4 mins), D.Duffy (for O’Carroll, inj. 24 mins), A.O’Carroll (for Duffy, h/t), C.Byrne (for Henderson, 62 mins), D.Bolger (for Crampton, 65 mins), S.Fogarty (for Daly, 70 mins) and D.Duffy (for McDonald, 70 mins).
GALWAY CORINTHIANS:- O.Burke; J.Nicholson, J.Devine, T.Waters, F.McNulty; S.Naughton, T.Farthing; P.Fahy, M.Holmes, F.Barrett; M.Boyle (captain), R.Glynn; C.Keane, J.Claffey and P.Flannery. Replacements:- P.Claffey (for Keane, h/t), J.Tierney (for Farthing, 52 mins), J.Hughes (for Fahy, 55 mins), J.Pollard (for Holmes, 65 mins) and H.Rogers (for McNulty, 65 mins).
Referee:- Shane Gaughan (IRFU).
