Out of sorts Wegians side are brought back to earth

Garryowen 18

Galwegians  9

GALWEGIANS suffered another disappointing result on the road when they were beaten by a better and more determined Garryowen side at Dooradoyle on Saturday.

This was a very lacklustre performance from Wegians, especially on the back of their recent outstanding home win against League champions Lansdowne. However there was a lack of focus and lethargy evident last Saturday, with far too many errors made which were gratefully punished by their hosts.

Playing in their new away strip of black, the signs were ominous early on for Wegians when they conceded three straight penalties in the opening ten minutes in their own half. Home scrum-half Neil Cronin converted two of his three attempts to give his side an early 6-0 lead.

Wegians eventually got into the game and secured some territory, with a hugely dominant scrum where returning Connacht squad member Ronan Loughney was having a major impact at loose-head. Following a second successive scrum penalty awarded, out-half Aidan Moynihan opened his side’s account with a penalty on 16 minutes.

However Wegians failed to secure the restart, which proved fatal as the home side went on the offensive. And following two penalty kicks to the corner, they soon rumbled over for the opening try, with lock Shane Buckley getting the touchdown. Cronin’s conversion hit the upright leaving the score 11-3.

Wegians had the better of the second quarter with the scrum continuing to cause serious damage. However they were failing to string the phases together and not causing too much concern for the home side.

With their only serious attack, they thought they scored a try on the half-hour mark when full-back Ciaran Gaffney crossed in the corner, only for referee David Wilkinson to call a forward pass by debutant winger Niyi Adelokun. Moynihan did however reduce the margin to five points with a penalty soon after, only to have to immediately retire with a dead leg. This was on top of the earlier loss of Paddy Finn at flanker.

This is how it remained at half-time, and despite strong words from coach Matt Brown at the break, there was little change in tempo in the second half. The error count continued to pile up, and the hosts always looked the more likely to score next.

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