Enniscorthy dent Galwegians' title ambitions with a 25-20 victory, despite a late surge from the Blues to force a losing bonus point.
A robust second-half performance from the county Wexford side saw them return to form after just one win in their previous four games while Galwegians only picked up their third loss of the season.
Just one change to Galwegians XV that lost to Clogher saw Jesse Va’asfusuaga start at flanker, with Oisin Halpin reverting back to the middle row.
With poor conditions to play against, Galwegians would strike first as Cian Brady crossed the whitewash for the Blues, dummying past the Enniscorthy forwards to touchdown for the try. Tiarnan Neville scored the conversion to make it 7-0 after ten minutes.
After being held up on the line, Enniscorthy finally got their reward for their offensive efforts, scoring on the half-hour mark. Nick Doyle broke through the centre to get close while Timmy Morrissey recovered the ball and dove for the gap in the defence to score. Ben Kidd’s conversion levelled the game.
However, Galwegians took the lead going into half-time with Neville striking a penalty from forty metres out to snatch back the advantage. They led 10-7 going into half-time with both sides looking fairly even.
Ben Kidd made sure their lead wouldn’t last long with two early second-half penalties to make it 13-10.
More magic from Ben Kidd gave them the platform for their second try with a superb 50-22 winning them the lineout. After a few patient phases, Lee Tracey eventually got them over the line to extend their advantage to 20 after another conversion from Kidd.
It went from bad to worse for the Blues as they would concede another try minutes later with a misplaced pass inside their 22 falling into the hands of Fiachra Hourihane who easily dotted down for their third of the afternoon.
Galwegians found themselves back in the game with a late try from Garyn Daniel. The lineout maul powered themselves over and Garyn would be the carrier to touchdown for Galwegians' second. Neville’s conversion drifted wide which left them at 25-15.
Hope was rekindled as Garyn struck again with his second in quick succession. Once again a well-worked-out lineout routine from five metres out saw the maul surge towards the line, with Daniel finding his target in the corner. A tricky angle for Neville meant two conversions went wide, making it a five-point game.
With the clock in the red, Galwegians had one last roll of the dice and stormed towards the 22, in search of an improbable victory. But the ball slipped from the grasp of the Blues and was kicked out of play as Enniscorthy got the win in dramatic circumstances.
The win for Enniscorthy ensures they remain in the hunt for a play-off spot while the loss for Galwegians means their chances of a Division 2C title grow slimmer. They look to return to winning ways against Bangor RFC this Saturday, kick-off at 2.30 p.m. Galwegians: S Mallon, D Kennedy, C Farrell, C Brady, O McKey, T Neville, A Sherlock, J Winters, R Smith, G Daniel, R Holian, O Halpin, D Keane, J Va’asfusuaga, L Angermann, Substitutes: E Ferry, M McColgan, H Gens, R Deacy, R Roche, J Munn, B McHugo
