Buccs now under pressure to defeat old rivals Galwegians

BUCCANEERS are away to arch Connacht rivals Galwegians in Saturday's crunch AIB League Division 1B encounter at Crowley Park, Glenina, kick off 2.30pm. 'Wegians, although winning just one more game than the midlanders to date, are comfortably placed in the top four, their accumulation of four bonus points to date being key to their well-being. Meanwhile, Buccs are rock bottom and absolutely must get the maximum from this encounter. Their only home win to date was over the westerners and, undoubtedly, the Pirates will be as fired up as ever for the quick hop west. However, a lack of scoring power has blighted their campaign to date and they really need to pull out all the stops if they are to again prevail over Wegians. The Buccs pack has been very settled of late so they will be hoping that the so consistent and strident Stephen Burke makes a quick recovery from last Saturday's injury, although Kolo Kiripati should be better equipped after some game time as substitute if called upon this weekend. The midlanders' forwards will need to be tight and cohesive against a beefier home pack. Buccs backs too simply must be sharper in both attack and defence. The silky running skills of John O'Brien and Brian Touhy would be a decided asset on Saturday to complement the burgeoning talents of Paul Harte, Adam Kennedy and Billy Henshaw. Colm Rigney and Alex Hayman must show the requisite leadership and be clinical under pressure for the visitors, while Galwegians will look to Ati Olive, Ivan Muldoon, Kieran Campbell and Robert O'Beirne to give them the edge. The light blues will be favourites but, on derby day, anything is possible! Buccaneers may also be facing Galwegians in the U-21 South-West Conference of the National League this weekend. Due to unplayable conditions their scheduled pre-Christmas meeting at Dubarry Park was postponed and may be refixed for the Athlone stadium this weekend. Also, at time of writing, the Seconds or Thirds fixtures can not be confirmed. However, it is likely that the Reserves will play their first round Heineken Connacht Junior Cup game at home to Loughrea on Sunday or possibly could be heading to the north-west for their refixed Connacht Junior League tilt with Westport, while the Thirds may be away to UCG in the Connacht J2 League. Check the club's website at www.buccaneersrfc.com for updates. AIB CUP FINALS The finalists for this season's AIB Cup deciders in Dubarry Park on Saturday week, January 30th, are now all known. Holders Tullamore were comfortably disposed of by Armagh at the Palace Grounds, while Monivea came a cropper away to City of Derry at Judges Road. Both northern clubs were a mite fortunate in that, because both semi-finals were twice postponed due to unplayable pitches, the competition rules state that the games are then played at the 'away' venue. Thus both Tullamore and Monivea had to concede ground advantage, which proved costly to both. Meanwhile, Senior finalists Cork Constitution and Garryowen are, allegedly, not happy having to journey to Athlone for their decider! Cork Con, who are unlikely to bring much support at the best of times, don't have happy memories of the ground following last season's upset by Ballynahinch live on RTE TV, who are again covering the Senior final this year.