Sports
Connacht Rugby get the job done
Connacht Rugby overcame a shaky start against the Scarlets on Saturday to secure a 14-8 win that cements their place in the top six of the Guinness Pro12.
The win for Pat Lam’s side was their sixth in the league this season, which matches their total number of win’s from last year’s campaign, although they had to do it the hard way in the Sportsground.
The game was preceded by a minute’s silence for the late Irish rugby great, Jack Kyle, and the Connacht Rugby side looked to be still paying their respects when they found themselves 8-0 down after less than four minutes play.
Steve Shingler kicked the visitors into an early lead with a penalty, and when Jack Carty let a Garryowen bounce inside the Connacht 22, Shingler gratefully snatched possession before offloading inside for Harry Robinson to score.
Shingler hit the post with his conversion, but Connacht were reeling against a side missing seven players due to international duty. The Welsh side came into the game one place below Connacht Rugby in the table, and given their absentees, there could be no excuse for Connacht Rugby not to end a three-0year losing streak against them, so that poor start looked like being a disaster in the making.
The home side rallied, however, and Carty reduced the arrears with a penalty after Mils Muiliaina was blocked when in a footrace for a loose ball that was bouncing towards the Scarlets line.
Matt Healy got the home side back into the game with a fine individual try, chasing his own kick which seemed to defy physics by bouncing alongside – but never over – -the sideline before he scooped up possession and dived over in the corner.
Carty missed the conversion, but tagged on two more penalties for the 14-8 win, but the home side’s second-half performance deserved a bigger margin of victory. Those fans who watched the game from the Bohermore end of the ground will feel hard-done by – that was the try line the Scarlets were ‘attacking’ in the second-half, but they never came with even a sniff of the Connacht 22 as the men in green assumed total control.
The visitors did leave with a losing bonus point for staying with seven points of the victors, a reward they scarcely deserved. For Connacht Rugby, their attention now turns to the European Challenge Cup, with Bayonne the visitors to the Sportsground this Saturday at 5pm, followed by the return tie the following Saturday.
They return to Guinness Pro12 action on Friday December 19 when Connacht Rugby head to the RDS to take on a Leinster side they beat 10-9 in the Sportsground in September. The game has a 7.35pm kick-off and will be televised live by TG4.
Galway United 1
Longford Town 0
Keith Kelly at Eamonn Deacy Park
IT is six of the best from Galway United on Friday night as Darren Clarke got one over on the club he joined United from in the off-season when his cross was deflected past visiting goalkeeper Jack Brady by Viktor Serdeniuk for an OG 15 minutes from time to see the Tribesmen start a season with six wins on the bounce for the first time in the history of the club.
United have often found Longford to be obdurate opponents – most recently, the Midlanders ended their previous unbeaten start to last season – and they almost proved party-poopers again on Friday when the hosts failed to turn their almost complete dominance of possession and territory into goals.
It was a tough watch at times, with United lacking that bit of quality up front, and while they got away with it on Friday night, those ongoing struggles in front of goal must be a concern at this stage, with Rob Manley surely worth a chance to prove his worth in upcoming games.
That is for another day, though, and should not take away from the achievement in making it six wins from six, which already has the Tribesmen six points clear at the top of the table, and has been such a statement of intent that Waterford FC have already blinked.
The Blues sacked manager Danny Searle earlier this week after their own ordinary start has left them 10 points behind United, albeit having played a game less after their meeting with Treaty United in the Markets Field last Friday was called off due to an unplayable pitch.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
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GALWAY United’s perfect start to the season sees them up at the top of the pile and there to be shot at, but assistant manager Ollie Horgan says that is exactly the kind of pressure all at the club were hoping for heading into the season.
The Tribesmen have won their first six games of the season for the first time in the club’s history, and they will bid to extend that – and match its best-ever run of seven on the spin – by taking all three points from their trip east on the M6 this Friday to take on Athlone Town at Lissywollen (7.45pm).
“Ah, we will take that pressure any day of the week, it is a little bit different, I had been in that position with Finn Harps way back, being top of the league, and Wexford eventually caught us because we couldn’t keep it going. We need to keep it going and if we are playing poorly, we need to try and pick something up,” says United assistant manager, Horgan, referencing the 2015 season when Harps finished second in the table to Wexford, having led for much of the campaign.
“We have a hugely difficult game on Friday against a damn good Athlone side. A lot of teams struggle down there, Finn Harps struggled down there in Athlone’s first home game; Treaty were 2-0 up and Athlone were down to 10 men and they got back into the game.
“They are a handful, they have energy, they have good players and a lot of pace and power about them. Athlone are a much better side than they were last season and we are just hoping we are a better side than last year also,” Horgan said.
The Midlands outfit have made a decent start to the season, winning the Midlands El Classico 3-1 away to Longford Town on the opening day of the season, and following that up with a 3-1 win at home to Harps the following week.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galwegians 12
Belfast Harlequins 31
A week of rain gave way to some early spring sunshine last Saturday at Crowley Park, but it shone mainly for the visitors as this defeat for Galwegians coupled with Enniscorthy’s win at home to Malahide, saw the Blues fall to the foot of the table.
Galwegians got the afternoon’s game underway kicking off towards the clubhouse end, and the first five minutes consisted of kick tennis and several lineouts, with Galwegians looking the better of the two sides, winning the first four lineouts.
The Blues set-piece put the visitors under immense pressure, forcing them back to defend on their goal line, but as has been all season, Galwegians would prove to be their own worst enemy, a knock-on at the line costing them the chance, and Harlequins then cleared their lines after winning a scrum penalty.
The Belfast side worked themselves into a scoring position after Galwegians’ ill-discipline allowed the visitor to creep within range of the posts, and centre Paul Kerr’s kick cleared the posts from inside the 10-metre line, to give the Ulster men a 3-0 lead.
Harlequins soon found the first try of the afternoon off the back of an overthrown line out, with Kerr putting on the footwork, turning back against traffic and finding a gap in the Galwegians’ defence, to sail over the whitewash. Kerr pushed them further ahead as he added the extras to make it 10-0.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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