Galwegians 29

Malahide 22

It simply had to come, and last Saturday at their eighth attempt, Galwegians finally got over the line and secured their first win in this season’s AIL Division 2B with a deserved bonus point victory over bottom-team Malahide.

This was the proverbial must-win game for both sides as it was bottom versus second-bottom. The visitors came into this game on a torrid run of form, but playing with a near gale-force wind blowing down from the clubhouse towards the Dublin Road, they made a dream start.

An excellent kick to the corner from near halfway after being awarded the first penalty of the day set up an attacking 5m lineout. Hooker Lee Byrne launched a perfect throw to the tail, and following a well-set maul, the Dubliners drove their way over, with prop Amkela Nontso claiming the touchdown. Centre David O’Halloran landed an excellent conversion to put his side 7-0 to the good.

If this was to signify a dominant first-half from the visitors, it proved something of a false dawn. Having licked their early wounds, Wegians immediately regrouped and quickly set about their business.

Playing into the wind, they had to play a possession game which started to force some penalties, and within five minutes they were on level terms. When a penalty was kicked into the opposition 22, hooker Eoin Ferry found Bobby Power with a clean lineout take and a strong 15-metre rumble by the pack had the visitors on the back foot.

Scrum-half Andrew Sherlock had the luxury of ignoring his outside backs when he sniped through the cover to score midway between the posts and touchline. Stevie Mannion judged the wind perfectly to curl his effort over the bar for 7-7.

Wegians then dominated the next 20 minutes with near total control of the ball, and their dominance was rewarded on 22 minutes when the in-form centre Rob Deacy barged his way over following more spadework from his forwards, with Mannion tagging on the simple convert for a 14-7 lead.

Pictured: Galwegians winger Oisin McKey looks to break thorugh the Malahide defence in Glenina on Saturday. Photos: Andrew Flaus.