February 02nd 2010

A disappointing result for Buccaneers in this one, in tragic circumstances losing after scoring two tries in spite of playing most of the match without ace number eight Aidan Connaughton, prop Glen Carey, winger Jack Donoghue who unfortunately all left the field through first half injury and, in the second half, were followed by experienced left winger Conor Seery.

Depleted in first choice players on the day did not mean Buccs was depleted in will to win and that includes every member of the panel who acquitted themselves to the task without hesitation. Due to the injuries suffered in exceptionally early stages of the first half, the substitutes who had to come into the fray included James Farrell, Dylan Lynch, Bryan Teape and Simon Garvey (who returned this week from a broken wrist) and Damien Hyland who moved from wing forward to wing three-quarter. Under these exceptional circumstances the Buccs challenge was mounted and to their credit they came within a whisker of a win.

Galwegians proved to be a fine team of well drilled and hard hitting players and got off to a better start scoring a converted try. The first half seemed to be made up of a series of unforced Buccs errors that plagued even the most basic effort, whether scrummaging sometimes a little too high or getting calls behind a backward moving scrum mixed up and no movement seemed to go right. Notwithstanding this the lynch-pin player scrum half Barry Digby was carrying a shoulder injury for most of the match. Having the margin at only seven points to nil down at half time was thanks to brilliant defensive play that saw Buccs lift siege after siege off their own line, deservedly making some breathing space for themselves but not able to make a breakthrough. In the first half Buccs full back Cian Bradley who, while playing into the wind was the target of many testing kicks, fielded and replied intelligently and effectively. On one occasion he even counter attacked with an imaginative and skilled chip-through into space that is too rarely seen even at senior level.

Turning in the second half with a wind that helped Robbie Henshaw release a good variety of long accurate kicks that were unanswered, keeping pressure on Galwegians defence and this paid off. The Buccs forwards were now making more impression too and Tadhg Hennessy’s stepping off the bench to replace the injured Connaughton made an impact as did an upsurge from the whole pack especially James Donoghue. Then from a scrum in midfield an opportunity was spotted by centre Conor FitzGibbon who got good early ball on the right and at great speed cunningly switched play to weave his unstoppable way from the 22 metre line to the try line. From a wide out angle, the try remained unconverted.

The score now lay at 7-5 in favour of Galwegians. Unfortunately for Buccs next came a try from a mobile opposition pack attack that served up perfect ball for the athletic Galwegians out half to crash through Buccs back-stepping defence. With the added points the score stood at 14-5 in favour of Galwegians.

Now with ‘backs against the wall’ and injury torn team, Buccs set to deliver a second try. After several phases of successful rucks in which Buccs moved the ball through the hands of Digby, who worked hard all day, Henshaw who dictated play with the boot and distributed the ball intelligently, Corbett whose constant thrusting and tackling were telling along with his centre partner FitzGibbon who passed finally to put flying winger Damian Hyland away out wide to score in the corner. It wasn't converted so the score lay at 14-10.

With nine minutes to play it seemed the Galwegians team were counting down the clock and on the other hand Buccs were more industrious and full of intent to score a winner. Unfortunately it wasn't to happen for Buccs and the day was won by a delighted Galwegians team.

Great praise is due to stalwart team of coaches Jude Lennon, Micky Donohoe, Tony Henshaw, and physio Dermy Sloane who was very busy with all the injuries. At the presentation the Connaught Branch praised the standard of play from the two teams who served up a match with four tries through continuous play of fine set pieces and loose play. Rucks and mauls were played without hardly any technical infringements and this they said augurs well for the future of Connaught Rugby. This fantastic squad of Buccs players were last years then under-16 Connaught Cup winners now look forward to contesting the under-17Connaught Cup in the next two weeks. Hearty good luck to all!

All injured players are wished a speedy recovery.

BUCCANEERS:- Bryan Teape, Damien Hyland, Lee Mc Loughlin, Simon Garvey, Robbie Henshaw, Conor Seery, Tadhg Hennessy, Cian Bradley, Robert Corcoran, Aidan Connaughton, Barry Digby, Mel Corbett, Glen Carey, John Dooley, James Donoghue, Jack Linnane, Colm Conroy, Cian O'Reilly, Daniel Mc Neill, Conor FitzGibbon, Jack Donoghue, Eoghan Kelly, John Dooley and Dylan Lynch.