On a bitterly cold day NUIG-Corinthians u-20s turned up the heat on local rivals Galwegians with a thumping 46-3 eight-try victory at Cloonacauneen.
Despite the lop-sided scoreline, the visitors had dictated the tempo in the opening ten minutes, kicking for territory and squeezing the home side.
They were rewarded when NUIG were pinged for going off their feet at the ruck and Galwegians made no mistake to take an early 3-0 lead.
Wegians, playing the better rugby in the early stages, could have added to their score but for an outstanding cover tackle by NUIG fullback David McDermott, and eventually the home side drew blood when centre Dwayne Corcoran started and finished the move that led to the opening try. Minutes later Corcoran was again involved, bursting through midfield before the ball was spread wide to McDermott who finished off in the corner for a second unconverted try.
NUIG maintained the initiative, and from a McDermott counterattack, the home side bagged try number three when hooker Michael O’Connell held off the defence to go in under the posts. Corcoran slotted the conversion for a 17-3 advantage.
Galwegians had no answer to NUIG’s running and offloading game and a fourth try followed when O’Connell bagged his second after the ball to squirt loose from a Wegian ruck.
Before the break outhalf Cathal Evans put Corcoran through a gap for a fifth try, giving the home side a commanding 29-3 lead at the break.
Despite putting up a real fight in the third quarter, there was no way back for Wegians.
Flanker Marc Kelly added to the home side’s try tally before right wing Patrick Giffin added his name to the scoresheet after fielding Evan’s crossfield kick and touching down. Corcoran then completed the rout with his hat-trick from another solid scrum.
Up next for NUIG-Corinthians is a home match against Nenagh Ormond RFC on December 13 in Dangan.
NUIG-Corinthians: D McDermott, P Griffin, D Corcoran, P Murphy, J Murray, C Evans, F O’Grady, S Faulkner, M O’Campbell, C Hansberry, T Fegan, I Kilcoyne A Broderick, M Kelly, R Stanley.
