City clubs still flying high in the All-Ireland League

CORINTHIANS and Galwegians continued their drive for promotion with key wins in their respective divisions last Saturday. It has been a hugely positive season for the two Galway clubs, each only losing one league game in the campaign to date.

In Division 1b, Corinthians have nine wins and one loss, yet despite that excellent record, first place and the one automatic promotion looks beyond them with Terenure College having won ten from ten and picking up five more bonus points to sit nine points clear.

The challenge for Corinthians is to secure second place and a promotion play off with the ninth ranked side in Division 1a (currently Ballynahinch). Phil Pretorius’ side hold a six point advantage of UL Bohemian after last weekend, but with a home tie against the Limerick side, a trip to the unstoppable league leaders and a tricky away outing at Shannon this weekend, there is a lot of work to do in the final eight rounds of the season.

On Saturday, they held off a strong challenge from Dublin University winning 23-22 in the end with tries from number 8 Eoghan Masterson, second row Gary Ward and centre James Buckley. Captain Finn Gormley’s kicking completed the scoring. The last two home wins have been scrappy to say the least, but the winning mentality remains strong.

Connacht’s other challenger in Division 1b are Buccaneers but they had a surprising 19-18 home loss to Belfast Harlequins last weekend. Steve Macauley and Martin Staunton went over for tries and Ben Carty kicked eight points. They are now seven back from Corinthians and will need a significant turnaround in the coming weeks.

In Division 2a, Galwegians are four points clear at the top after they extended their wining streak to eight on Sunday with a 23-17 victory over one of the other promotion contenders, UCC. Brian Murphy’s first half try and Caolin Blade’s try after the break helped them to another key win.

The top two gain promotion in that division and Galwegians are now eight clear of third place Ballymena with six rounds remaining. Cory Brown’s side face 12th ranked Seapoint in Killiney this weekend with every reason to believe they can extend their winning run and get one step closer to a return to the second tier.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.