Galwegians suffered a disappointing 18-13 loss to their Ulster Bank All-Ireland League division 1B campaign, losing t newly-promoted Naas who rallied with two late penalties to seal victory at Forenaughts on Saturday.
The opening half was evenly balanced and the deadlock was broken by Naas after 30 minutes when former Connacht winger Fionn Carr went on a mesmerising run to dot down for the game’s opening try, which was unconverted.
Wegians responded well and minutes later they opened their account when new recruit, outhalf Mitch Lam struck an excellent penalty from the 10m line.
However Wegians lost full back Adam Leavy to injury, necessitating a backline reshuffle, and disaster struck on the stroke of half-time when they shipped a soft score. It came following a block down which allowed powerful centre Henry Bryce cross the whitewash to touch down for his side’s second try. Scrum-half Peter Osborne converted to give his side a slightly flattering 12-3 lead at the break.
Although Wegians struggled to gain any continuity, they reduced the margin when Lam landed another good penalty on 47 minutes to make it 12-6. The assistant coach to Brian McLearn was off the mark with another effort on the hour mark, but the Blues finally managed to cross the whitewash on 70 minutes when winger Ed O’Keeffe finished off a move in style. An excellent conversion by Lam out wide put the Blues in front for the first time in the game by the narrowest of margins.
However the Blues almost immediately handed the initiative right back to their hosts and Osborne nailed a long range penalty. Further ill-discipline saw them cough up another penalty, which Osborne gratefully accepted to split the posts and seal victory for the Co Kildare outfit.
The Blues had to console themselves with a losing bonus point, but coach McClearn will expect a big step-up in performance for their first home game on Saturday against UCC (2.30pm kick-off ).
