Corinthians posted their first victory in the the Ulster Bank League this season on a 20-12 scoreline against Nenagh on Saturday.
Corinthians were ahead 10-7 at the break, courtesy of a James Procter try, and a conversion and penalty from fullback Simon Keller, while the hosts grabbed an intercept try from centre John Long.
With Corinthians' locks Colin Raftery and Ultan Dillane dominating the line out, and player coach Eneliko Fa'Atau and flanker James Connolly driving forward at every opportunity, they eventually secured their second try after excellent play by scrumhalf Greg Faherty, who whipped the ball out to left wing David McDermott to score.
Although Nenagh's wing Ruadhri O Brian replied with a fine individual try, the experience of Corinthians' centres James Buckley and David Panter proved pivotal in replacement wing Ross Mooney's winning try.
Corinthians: S Keller, D Griffin, J Buckley, D Panter, D McDermott, J Procter, G Faherty, Byrne, P O'Toole, A Glynn, C Raftery, U Dillane, J Connolly, S Royle, E Fa'Atau. Replacements; A Bane, A Walsh, R Enright-Mooney, P Noone, O Daly.
Galwegians
In division 1A Galwegians, after a superb win over champions Lansdowne, suffered a 18- 9 loss to Garryowen at Dooradoyle on Saturday.
The signs were ominous when Wegians conceded three penalties in the opening 10 minutes with home scrum-half Neil Cronin converting two. Wegians eventually got into the game thanks to a scrum penalty which outhalf Aidan Moynihan converted on 16 minutes.
However failing to secure the restart, Wegians were again penalised, and from two kicks to the corner, Garryowen's lock Shane Buckley scored.
Although on top in the scrum, Wegians were unable to score, despite Ciaran Gaffney having crossed in the corner, only to be denied by an earlier forward pass. Moynihan reduced the margin to five points with a penalty soon after for an 11-6 half-time score.
However too many errors proved Wegians' downfall, and true pressure told when Garryowen no 8 and captain Josh Hrstich tapped a quick penalty and caught the visiting defence for a converted try, stretching the lead to 12 points.
Galwegians were given hope with a 71st minute penalty which Gaffney converted, but try as they might, they were unable to reduce the gap.
Galwegians XV: C Gaffney; E O’Keeffe, C Brennan, B Murphy (cpt ), N Adelokun; A Moynihan (A Leavy ), B Lee (C Blade ); R Loughney (Ja Naughton ) J Anaya (Jack Dinneen ), J East, A Ryan, M Cummins; P Finn ( Matt Towey ), J Pim, M Kelly.
