Galwegians ended their losing streak when sharing the spoils with Dungannon in Saturday's Energia AIL Division 2B League game played in torrid conditions at Crowley Park.
Having suffered heavy defeats in their previous three games, Wegians needed to halt their slide down the table. Although the Blues won comfortably away to the same opposition 19-0 in November, Dungannon came into this match in good form with six points from their last two outings.
However, the torrential weather and rain-sodden pitch was always going to make this difficult, and Wegians were dealt an early blow by the loss of prop Conor Kyne who was injured in the pre-match warm-up. Dungannon had the advantage of the stiff breeze in the first-half, and they had an early opportunity to make the breakthrough, only for some good Wegians defence to keep them at bay.
The visitors continued to pin Wegians deep in their own half, and despite some good ball retention, the Blues were unable to break out of their 22. The stalemate was broken in the 16th minute following a knock on inside the 22. The visitors attacked off the scrum, forcing a penalty for offside. Then from a quick tap, impressive No 8 James McMahon barrelled his way over for a well-taken try and fullback Jordy McIlwaine struck a good conversion to put his side 7-0 to the good.
McMahon, however, was forced to depart with a shoulder injury soon after, and for the remainder of the half Wegians defended with real grit, keeping handling errors to a minimum despite the challenges faced by the elements. Their line-out functioned well too and they kept the visitors at bay until the break.
Wegians went on the attack early in the second half, but failed to convert an early chance, and with the rain coming to an unexpected halt, the visitors started defending comfortably and looking the more likely to score, making a succession of incursions into their opponents' half. They had a chance to stretch their lead when awarded a 50th minute penalty, but scrumhalf John Russell was just wide with his ambitious long-range effort.
It took an hour for the Blues to get on the scoreboard, and it followed an excellent lineout maul which drove the Gannon pack fully 25 yards back to their own line. Although stopped just short, Wegians, from a penalty scrum, produced a powerful shunt that saw them heading for the line. With the opposition scrum buckling under the pressure, referee Padraig Reidy awarded a penalty try.
This levelled the game, and it set up an interesting final quarter. Both teams went for it, but neither were able to make the breakthrough. While both sides will feel it was one that got away, it was probably a fair result.
Next up for the Blues is another vital game away when they travel to face bottom of the table Ballina on Saturday.
Galwegians XV: C O’Shaughnessy, J Kennedy, D Kilgallen, D Faulkner, H Lane, D Hamill, R Gaffney, A Afalobi, C Reilly, S Hyland, A Ryan M Cummins (c ), J Dunne, P Hackett, K Downey.
