Leader does the damage as Wegians romp to derby win

Date Published: 12-Nov-2012

Galwegians 31

Corinthians 13

Rob Murphy at Crowley Park

TYPICAL Galwegians. You think you have them figured out, make a judgement and then they go and do something like this. Two key lessons, one for each team, should be taken away from Friday night’s rare meeting between the sides in thw Ulster Bank League under the new floodlights at Crowley Park.

Firstly, Corinthians have to stop thinking they have them figured out before they head into games like this. One can’t help feeling that they paid too much attention to recent form which is always a pitfall in a derby game.

Secondly, Galwegians switched to a more pragmatic and structured game plan here and in this division that’s not a bad way to get a foothold in games. It doesn’t mean they can’t switch back to heads-up, off-the-cuffe rugby once superiority has been established.

The sky blues management and players were in a metaphorical bunker last week. The pressure was on, their first season down in the third tier in over 15 years had started abysmally and their great rivals were now 10 points ahead of them in the table and heading to their home ground as favourites.

We should have seen a backlash but Corinthians have been brilliant under Phil Pretorious, just the one narrow loss in City of Derry, second in the table, scoring tries for fun. They had a right to be confident but with Conor Murphy and Finlay Bealham out, they also had reason for concern.

So when Aaron Conneely pulled out before kick off, all off a sudden their trump cards were missing. They needed to be cautious and diligent, but they tried to play loose and fast in the early stages of this contest without ever establishing themselves in the forwards battle. They were blown away.

Five first half penalties came Galwegian’s way at the breakdown along with three powerful turnovers. Corinthians felt some decisions were harsh, Galwegians felt it was all down to a forward unit that toiled and harried. Anthony Ryan, Conor Muldoon and Ivan Muldoon all to the fore and neutrals tended to agree.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.