Galwegians 10
Bruff 5

Galwegians got back to winning ways when they won a vital clash against visitors Bruff at a rain-sodden Crowley Park on Saturday.

Having lost their first two League games this year in disappointing fashion against UL Bohs and Buccaneers, Colm Rigney’s charges desperately needed a win to restore confidence and self-belief. They came into this game third from bottom with Bruff two points adrift in second last place, so it was the proverbial eight-pointer with much at stake.

And in a game between two sides who rely heavily on their forward power, and given the awful conditions, this was always likely to be a slugfest in the mud. And so it proved, with a bizarre final result with no points came from the boot from either side.

The Limerick men are not used to conceding advantage up front, but ’Wegians set out their stall early on and were clearly dominating in the scrum. Out-half Tadhg Leader missed two kickable penalties in the first quarter, but the pressure was telling on the visitors and flanker Alan Bourke was sin-binned inthe 21st minute by referee Eanna O’Dowd.

The Blues eventually made their dominance pay on 25 minutes when a well-worked lineout maul saw flanker Ivan Muldoon continue his rich vein of scoring form when he grounded the ball for his fifth try of the season.

Leader was wide of target with the conversion attempt, and at 5-0 the Blues would have felt this was poor reward for their dominance. Indeed this was how it remained at half-time, although there were ominous signs that Bruff were starting to find their rhythm and gain a foothold as the half drew to a close.

The visitors started the second-half where they left off, putting serious pressure on the ’Wegians defence, and having spurned some earlier opportunities, it was no surprise when they drew level on 50 minutes, with No 8 Paddy Clery getting on the end of another forward drive to claim the touchdown out wide. The difficult conversion attempt was missed, so the match was now very finely balanced at 5-5.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.