GALWAY CORINTHIANS 47 BUCCANEERS 19
GALWAY CORINTHIANS took a firm grip on the Bank of Ireland Connacht Senior League with an impressive 47-19 bonus point victory over Buccaneers at Dangan, Galway, on Saturday. On a bright afternoon, conditions were near ideal at the scenic ground near the banks of the Corrib. Orrin Burgess, Sean Glennon, Ryan O’Meara and Conor Dowling were missing from last week’s squad so Abel Bouwens, Ross Murphy-Sweeney, Sam Fogarty and Dylan Quinn started while the westerners made 5 changes from their win at Sligo.
A harsh penalty gave Corinthians promising early territory and, following some good handling, Billy Cross opened the scoring with a 4th minute try converted by Jack Conway. Patrick Egan waltzed past a number of tacklers to dot down wide on the right after 10 minutes but was deemed to have put a foot in touch in scoring. However, Buccs were soon level when Sam Fogarty made a fine blockdown to set up serious pressure by the Shannonsiders. The Tribesmen seemed to have withstood this but a touch-judge spotted a deliberate knock-on as Buccs tried to score and so a penalty try was awarded.
Dylan Quinn was sin-binned for a high tackle on 24 minutes and one minute later tepid tackling enabled Jack Burns to score a home try wide on the right. The Pirates finished the half on the offensive but a knock-on spoiled a very promising position as thus they trailed 12-7 at half-time.
Buccs made a couple of substitutions at the interval but Corinthians restarted on the front foot to secure a fine converted try 3 minutes after the change of ends. Jack Boyan carved through the visitors defence to score a bonus point try on 51 minutes. Just as their Seconds had done earlier, Corinthians nabbed 3 tries in quick succession to put the outcome beyond Buccaneers. Colm de Buitlear showed great desire to notch his touchdown. Cross converted these tries to stretch the hosts lead to 38-7.
Buccs responded with a pushover try but Tadhg Johnston replied for Corinthians before he was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on! Slick handling following the resultant penalty saw Jack Quinn out-flank the cover for a 68th minute Buccs try converted by Bouwens to complete the scoring.
This was a reality check for Buccaneers who lacked the clinical finishing of their opponents whose handling was also sharper.
GALWAY CORINTHIANS:- B.Cross; E.Maughan, C.de Buitlear, H.Rogers, J.Burns; J.Conway, J.Canavan; E.Oifoh, J.Boyan, J.Duffy; R.Glynn, N.Harrison; A.Nash, C.Lyons and M.Boyle (captain). Rolling substitutes:- A.Cochez, A.Burke, R.Gaughan, K.Hughes, S.Janin, M.Farragher, T.Johnston and R.King.
BUCCANEERS:- A.Bouwens; H.Balsiger, R.Murphy-Sweeney, T.Shine, E.Friel; G.McDonald, L.MacFarlane; J.Kelly, D.Bolger, D.Quinn; C.Sheehan (captain), S.Fogarty; P.Egan, C.Walsh and L.Balsiger. Replacements:- C.Byrne (for Fogarty, temp.), K.Blessing (for Kelly), N.Tallon (for Fogarty), J.Quinn (for McDonald), A.Saka (for Egan), A.Oates (for Byrne) and F.Galbarczyk (for Walsh).
Referee:- Andrew Fogarty (Connacht).
