Dungannon 28

Galwegians 27

IN yet another cruel twist in their season to date, Galwegians suffered more last-gasp agony as they were undone when hosts Dungannon snatched the unlikeliest of wins at Stevenson Park on Saturday. Wegians utterly dominated and led this game for almost 70 minutes, yet somehow still ended up on the losing side.

The Blues came into this as firm underdogs in the eyes of many, facing the Ulstermen who were in second place in the table. Wegians head coach Brendan Guilfoyle was forced into making five changes, having lost the services of Connacht Academy members involved in their game the previous week.

Into the starting back-line came Rob Deacy, Cam Carruthers and Oisin McKey, while in the forwards Dylan Keane and no. 8 Liam Angermann returned from injury, the latter making his first AIL start of the season having recovered from a lengthy lay-off.

All had a point to prove and the Blues quickly put down a marker. They attacked from the off, and before Dungannon had barely touched the ball, some patient forceful attacking rugby led to Rob Deacy powering over in the right corner for the opening try.  Stevie Mannion, who partnered Deacy at inside centre, missed with a difficult kick into the cross-breeze.

Despite having the wind at their backs, Dungannon were unable to make much impression as the Blues comfortably dealt with anything which came their way. However, Wegians were unfortunate to lose the services of two starting front-row players in the first ten minutes – hooker Ryan Smith and prop Guerschom Mukendi. Although Mukendi returned late on, this would put severe strain on their resources which they could have done without.

Despite some loose kicking at times which invited opposition pressure, there was little to worry about for the Blues until the 23rd minute when Gannon kicked a penalty to the corner, and following several phases their bulky inside centre Kyle Gormley finished a lineout maul by barrelling over near the posts. Scrum-half Toby Gribben added the extras, and the hosts suddenly led 7-5 against the run of play.

Undaunted, Wegians regrouped. They owned possession and territory for the remainder of the half, and a succession of 5m scrum penalties on the half-hour mark saw Dungannon lose prop Sean O’Hagan to the bin, with Blues loose-head Kobi Joyce giving him a torrid time in the set-piece.

Pictured: Galwegians centre Steve Mannion whose late attempt at a match-winning penalty just failed away to Dungannon in the AIL on Saturday.

IT was a losing weekend for all four Galway sides in their national league encounters at the weekend, with the Super League teams of Maree and Mystics looking in increasing danger of dropping down to Division 1 level, which could see all four Galway sides playing in the second tier next season – if at all.

Having lost Nate Davis due to the lack of a working visa, and with the same fate expected to befall Jarrett Haines in the coming weeks, Maree were hit with another blow this week after parting company with England’s Joe Mvuezolo, the team cutting him over a disciplinary issue.

Over in the Women’s Super League, University of Galway Mystics have now been clearly cut adrift at the foot of the table after losing the battle of the bottom two against St Paul’s Killarney in the Kingfisher Arena on Sunday.

Having opened the season with six straight wins, Titans have now lost back-to-back games after going down away to table-toppers Limerick Celtics in Men’s Division One, who were making it eight wins from eight this season in the league and cup; while Maigh Cuilinn have slipped to a 3-4 (wins-defeats) league record after also losing on the road, coming off second-best against St Paul’s Killarney.

MEN’S SUPER LEAGUE

UCC Demons 96

Maree 82

Joe Junior Mvuezolo signed off on his Maree career with 11 points, five assists, and four rebounds down in Cork on Sunday afternoon before the club finally lost patience with him and dismissed him from what is an increasingly shallow playing squad.

It was his second spell at the club, with both ending in early departures for the Londoner, as a season of turmoil continues for the 2023 cup champions. Set to be without both US stars within a matter of weeks, with Haines set to follow Davis in having his licence suspended over a lack of a working visa, they were also without Zvonimir Cutuk on Sunday due to injury.

Pictured: Maigh Cuilinn’s Cian Walsh who scored 11 points in their Division One away loss to St Paul’s in Killarney.

By Mike Rafferty

NEWLY promoted Moyne Villa are setting a decent standard for themselves in the Premier League and on Saturday in Dangan, they were worthy 3-0 winners over University of Galway and, in the process, moved to fourth position in the table. All the goals came in the opening half with striker Padraig Cunningham notching a hat-trick. Villa goalkeeper Luke Jennings also played a big part with a crucial penalty save to deny Leon Daly.

Maree-Oranmore appear to be putting their poor start to the campaign behind them as they registered their third league win in succession with a come from behind 3-2 success over Athenry. Goals by Adam Molloy and Ray Moran had the home side 2-1 up at the break, with Colm Whelan getting the visitors’ lone reward. On the resumption, two Liam McDonagh finishes secured all the points for Brendan O’Connor’s side.

For a long time Colga looked just as good as their hosts Mervue United in Fahy’s Field on Saturday evening, before a late winner from substitute Charlie Concannon gave the home side a 2-1 victory. It might not be a fair reflection on the game as the visitors gave as good as they got but were not able to take more of the many chances that came their way.

Colga hit the woodwork on a number of occasions as Jamie Cummins, Ben Lalor and Calum Browne were all thwarted. Tom Daly had an effort taken off the line, while Neil Greaney was denied by a smart Tom Meehan save.

Of course, the home side had their opportunities also, but Mark Greaney was alert to deny Adam Healy and Kody McCann, but there was little he could do as Healy set up Oisin Coyne to fire home from the edge of the box on 24 minutes for a 1-0 lead.

The equaliser quickly followed as Daly was upended in the box and Neil Greaney side footed home the resulting penalty to tie up matters. The second half wasn’t played at the same pace or intensity, but Daly had a great chance to put Colga ahead on 49 minutes when an excellent through ball from Browne put him through on goal, but Meehan advanced quickly to avert the danger.

The winner arrived late when Kacper Zatonski set up Concannon to fire home and, in the process, keep second placed Mervue hot on the heels of leaders Salthill Devon.

Indeed, the table toppers had little difficulty in seeing off Loughrea by 3-0 as goals from Timmy Molloy and Colin Kelly (two) eased them to a comfortable success. The remaining game saw Hibernians and Renmore share the spoils in a 1-1 draw.

After Harry Rogers had an early penalty saved by Cian Costello, Oisin Grant slotted the home side ahead. However, a late equaliser from Cian Specht ensured parity in a competitive encounter between two sides in the lower half of the table.

Pictured: The Moyne Villa team which defeated University of Galway in Saturday’s Premier League tie in Dangan. Back row, left to right: Luke Jennings, Josh Greaney, Sean Moran, Gusi Khumalo, Padraic Cunningham and Adam Barrett. Front row: Dara Forde, Aidan Coyle, Colin O’Reilly, Tomas Newell and Colm Doherty