Galway Tribesmen 48 Waterford Vikings 14
The Tribesmen made the arduous trip down to Dungarvan last Saturday, to face the Waterford Vikings in the last away game of the weekly rounds. The stakes could not have been higher in this top of the table clash as a win for the Galway men would all but guarantee a berth in the Republic of Ireland semi-finals later this month.
The Vikings commenced the game with a kick off deep inside the Tribesmen 20 metre zone and the returning ball carrier was met by a high tackle. The resulting penalty gave the Tribesmen a good field position and the contest was only two minutes old when big prop forward Enda Stanford continued his fine form and crashed over the line to register the first score of the game. With the conversion missed the Vikings resumed the game with kick restart. A couple of heavy sets from both sets of forwards ensued, which ultimately led to a knock on by the Vikings fifteen metres from their own line. When the Tribesmen regained possession through the resulting scrum, a break by full back Johnny Long earned him a try and with the conversion added by Conor Loughrey the scores were 10-0 after twelve minutes.
The Tribesmen continued their dominant form and poor handling by the Vikings gave Monty Balaisis an opportunity to register another four points on the 19th minute mark. The Tribesmen continued to pile on the pressure from the restart which resulted in Brian McDonagh also adding a try. The Vikings attempted to gain a foothold but every attack was thwarted by a well organised Tribesmen defence.For the rest of the 1st half the Tribesmen were almost faultless in the execution of their plays and a brace of tries from Seosamh McDonagh, a second try from Balaisis plus two conversions from Peter Connolly put the scores at half time 32-0 in favour of the Tribesmen.
The Tribesmen began the second half as they finished the first with Cian McGinn skipping over the line to register his first try and with Connolly slotting over the conversion the scores were 38-0 after 43 minutes. At this stage of the game the Vikings rallied and displayed a more inspired performance and sustained pressure near the Tribesmen line resulted in their prop forward going over for their first points nine minutes into the 2nd half. This was quickly followed up by a second score after a knock on by the Tribesmen near their own line. The Vikings continued their comeback displaying fine handling skills and with 20 minutes left they had registered fourteen unanswered points. As the final stages approached, normal service was resumed as Sean O’Gorman crossed for four points for the Tribesmen. The scoring was rounded off with Cian McGinn scoring his second try and with Connolly adding the conversion the game finished 48-14 to the Galway men. The Tribesmen now march on unbeaten so far this year and look forward to a ROI semi-final on the 22nd July. Further details of this game will be announced as soon as possible on the Tribesmen Facebook page – galwayrugbyleague.
