Corinthians claimed a valuable 16-0 home win over Malone on Saturday, allowing the Galway club to climb to fifth place in the All Ireland League’s division two.
The importance of Corinthians’ victory could not mask the poor quality of the match as the game was plagued with lapses in concentration and knock-ons from start to finish.
The home side opened the game positively, opting to keep it tight and slowly work their way up the field. Gradually they gained a firm foothold in Malone’s 22 and Malone eventually gave away a penalty for a high tackle directly in front of the posts, which outhalf Shane Mullally converted.
With Corinthians displaying some aggressive defensive tactics, Malone conceded a second penalty and Mullally converted form the 10m line for a 6 - 0 lead.
Both teams then enjoyed spells in each other’s halves, but neither of the two sides could turn any of this territory into points. Corinthians, however, did make the breakthrough before half time from a penalty kicked to touch when the Corinthians pack powered over for an easy try.
Corinthians kept the pressure on Malone and continually hammered away at the Ulster men’s defence, which led to Malone No 8 Glenn Moore’s sinbinning. Although Mullally hooked his kick horribly, Corinthians still had the upper hand and, but for their handling errors, they should have extended their lead.
Malone had an opportunity to finally relieve some pressure when they were given a scrum deep in their own half. But the Corinthian front row, featuring new Connacht recruit Barry Fa’amausili, managed to win one against the head. The backs spun it out wide and winger Finn Gormley skipped past two Malone defenders before touching down in the corner.
Corinthians managed to keep the majority of possession for the rest of the game and used their set piece as a weapon for orchestrating assaults on Malone’s defence. Unfortunately, the Galway side could not add to their points tally, but their territorial-based game was sufficient to close out the game.
