Galwegians retain league title

Galwegians retained their Connacht Senior League title when defeating Buccaneers 25-17 in the final series match at Crowley Park, Galway, on Saturday. This decisive fixture proved a lively and entertaining affair on a fine, sunny afternoon with the home side also bettering the midlanders in try-scoring by 4 to 3. Nevertheless, Buccs will take considerable heart from this outing as their patchwork squad battled with commendable commitment and bravery to upset the odds against a physically stronger and far more experienced Wegians side. Buccaneers' already stretched squad had further defections with Alex Hayman and Paul Harte out through injury, although both hope to return to action this coming weekend, while Marcus Madden was unavailable and, of course, Kolo Kiripati is a long-term absentee due to a knee injury. Connacht's Liam Bibo debuted at outhalf where he linked up with Conor O'Loughlin and Cormac Sheehy and Peter Smith came in in the three-quarters line. Youth got its fling in the pack where Conor Higgins and Martin Staunton propped with recent U-20's Padraig Burke and Sean Stapleton at wing-forward. Galwegians welcomed back Peter Bracken in the front row and Ambrose Conboy at flanker in a far heftier pack that featured Joe Moran and an interesting and useful addition at No. 8 Ati Olive. Representative star Kieran Campbell featured at scrumhalf with Aifai Esera in the centre, and fullback Rob O'Beirne and wing Mark Butler added pace and potential to the sky blues backs division. Buccs must have feared for the worst when former international Campbell intercepted inside the visitors' half after just three minutes to scamper away for the opening try but Buccaneers settled and their endeavours were rewarded when O'Loughlin's persistence was rewarded with a 14th minute try to tie the scores 5-5. Just five minutes later, Wegians made the superior power in their pack pay when they bulldozed over for an Olive try. Soon afterwards, the lively No. 8 grabbed his second try wide on the right on 24 minutes. Ten minutes later a wicked bounce following a Wegians kick ahead left the Buccaneers cover wrong-footed and Ross Shaughnessy made the most of his good fortune for an opportunist try and placekicker Butler finally found his range with the conversion to stretch the home side 22-5 ahead. But just before the break, O'Loughlin outflanked the home defence for a well-taken try wide on the right to give the visitors a timely boost. Buccaneers resumed brightly and punished the hosts for a late tackle by substitute Liam Casserly in their own half. The resultant penalty was punted to touch on the left and Anthony Hughes won fine lineout possession and the ball was moved smartly to Bibo who showed good strength to crash through for a 42nd minute try. He too finally found the range with the conversion to tighten the arrears to 17-22 but a Butler penalty nine minutes later completed the scoring. Nevertheless, a willing Buccs side caused plenty of discomfort for their hosts for whom Butler had one bad penalty miss. O'Loughlin, as busy and energetic as ever, was man of this match while Henshaw and Smith settled into their strides as the game progressed, forcing Wegians to concede penalties in midfield. Skipper Ivan Muldoon was sin-binned late in the game when Galwegians were guilty of one infringement too many. Buccs should have notched a fourth try but did not spot an overlap to the right, instead opting to go left to no avail. However, there was resolve and passion in the Pirates display with Colm Rigney and Garreth Halligan setting the tone and youngsters Stapleton and Burke acquitting themselves well in testing conditions. Overall, there were certainly positives to take from this contest. Meanwhile, Wegians have a promising mix of brawn, pace and experience and could be a useful force in the AIB League. Bucanneers:- T. Hynes; W. Henshaw, P. Smith, G. Kelly, C. Sheehy; L. Bibo, C. O'Loughlin; M. Staunton, G. Halligan, C. Higgins; A. Hughes, J. Tormey; P. Burke, S. Stapleton and C. Rigney (captain). Replacements:- B. Gilligan (for Staunton, 55 mins), C. Watters (for Stapleton, 61 mins), B. McManus (for Hughes, 61 mins), G. McGill (for Higgins, 69 mins) and M. Donohoe (for Hynes, 74 mins). Galwegians:- R. O'Beirne; T. O'Donnell, A. Esera, D. Clark, M. Butler; R. Shaughnessy, K. Campbell; J. Stephens, D. Murphy, P. Bracken; B. McClearn, J. Moran; A. Conboy, I. Muldoon (captain) and A. Olive. Replacements:- L. Casserly (for Olive, h-t), C. Muldoon (for Murphy, h-t), S. McGrath (for Stephens), D. Boyd (for Conboy) and R. Dillon (for Campbell). Referee:- P.Jennings. (Connacht).