Galwegians lost a game they appeared to have in the bag when they conceded two late tries to lose by the narrowest of margins, 34 - 33, to Old Wesley in Donnybrook on Saturday.
In a thrilling eight-try contest in which the lead changed four times, the Blues one again lost away to Leinster opposition.
A fifth minute penalty from outhalf Tadgh Leader gave Wegians a deserved lead, but Old Wesley replied immediately with a penalty from right wing Barry McLaughlin. Then disaster struck for Wegians when, having worked an overlap opportunity, the final pass was intercepted by McLaughlin who raced home to grab the first try of the game, which he converted for a 10-3 lead against the run of play.
Wegians used the power in their pack to force another penalty four minutes later which Leader converted, but once again they coughed up points and from a turnover Wesley captain Alan Large stretch their lead to 17- 6.
Leader narrowed the gap with another penalty after more good pressure as the pack dominated their opponents and kept Wesley in their own half. On 30 mnutes a penalty to touch resulted in No 8 Eoin Rooney claiming the touchdown, with Leader adding the extras to bring Wegians within a point, 17 - 16.
The see-saw scoring continued when McLaughlin touched down in the corner, but Wegians replied with Leader crossing in the corner and younger brother Darragh converting to give Wegians a one-point lead at the break.
Tadgh Leader slotted another penalty and their dominance led to their third try from wing Barry Lee. An excellent conversion stretched the lead to 11 points. However when lock Brian McClearn was sin binned,Wesley grabbed their fourth try, and worse followed when centre Brian Murphy was also yellow-carded and the hosts claimed their fifth try in the 79th minute. McLaughlin added the extras to put his side in front for the first time in the second half.
Wegians still had a chance to win the match in stoppage time, but Tadgh Leader’s penalty sailed narrowly wide.
Galwegians: D Leader, C Conroy, J Cleary, B Murphy, B Lee, T Leader, C O’Rourke, J Naughton, C Muldoon, P Griffin, A Ryan, B McClearn, J Gardiner, I Muldoon, E Rooney. Replacements, D McHugh, R Fitzgerald, Mark Duncan, D Clarke, D Butler.
