Galwegians face another formidable test in the Ulster Bank League division 1A when they travel to Limerick to face Young Munster on Saturday (1pm ).
The Galway city side, after a strong start to the season, have dropped periously close to the relegation zone, and will need to secure some points if they are not going to face an immediate return to division 1B.
With just four wins from 11, they faced league leaders UCD last weekend and played well, but in the end they were ruthlessly punished by the students' lethal back line in the final minutes, losing 33-15.
It had looked considerably brighter early in the second half when Galwegians led at Belfield by 15-13, courtesy of three tries from John Cleary, Ed O'Keefe, and Marc Kelly.
In appalling conditions, the students took an early 3-0 lead when Billy Dardis kicked a straightforward penalty on 10 minutes.
However Galwegians countered with two unconverted tries. After Outhalf Aidan Moynihan missed a 25th minute penalty, Wegians scored the first try of the game five minutes later - a skip pass from Shane O’Leary giving John Cleary the space to race in and put the visitors in front. Although unconverted, Wegians, from the restart, attacked through O’Leary, setting up territorial position, before Moynihan sent O'Keefe in for the second try.
But with just five minutes left before the break, the hosts grabbed a penalty and a converted try for a 13-10 lead.
The students, with the wind at their backs, exerted huge pressure in the second half, but Galwegians' defence held firm. Instead a superbly worked rolling maul resulted in Kelly touching down after 52 minutes to retake the lead by 15-13, and they went on to dominate the next 20 minutes and looked the likelier to score.
However late in the game UCD edged ahead with a penalty, before stunning Galwegians with two late tries to put them five points ahead of Clontarf at the top of the table.
It was an agonising defeat for the Blues who had looked like they would come away with something. And although leading this game with less than 10 minutes remaining, the students ran riot to rack up 20 unanswered points, putting a flattering gloss on the final score.
