Trinity Dominate but lose!
20/01/2006

Trinity 23pts Galwegians 26pts

For Trinity to lose this game…… was an absolute ‘sickener’. The students except for a five minute period in the first half when Galwegians scored two tries dominated territory and possession but still conspired to lose this very important Division one AIL game.

 

 

 

 

 

Trinity started the game nervously and gave the visitors position on the field. They then followed this by gift-wrapping the Connacht team a simple try when their flanker pounced on a loose ball from a line out to score.

 

 

 

 

 

The students came back with some quality continuous rugby and forced a penalty which Johnny Watt kicked. Trinity continued their ‘ball possession’ game playing at great pace, after an extended period of attack, second row Martin Garvey ‘hanging out’ on the wing beat the cover to score.

 

 

 

 

 

Galwegians came back into the game with their only real pressure of the game. They were given a highly controversial try when their out-half ran behind two crossing players with the ball. Everybody on the field seemed to stop for such a basic infringement but the referee who was to make several highly questionable decisions in the game totally missed the illegal act. To their credit the visitors seized the moment and came straight back down the field and scored after several pick and go’s from the base of the ruck, this  along with the driving maul would prove to be Galwegians main/only tactic.

 

 

 

 

 

The students came back with wave after wave of attacks and outside centre Barry Kinsella scored a superb team try when he slipped over in the corner. Down 9-13 at half time with the light breeze at their backs it had looked as if the students had recovered from an enthusiastic if but error ridden first half.

 

 

 

 

 

In the second half the students simply threw everything at the visiting defence. Playing at great speed and recycling the ball for several phases at a time, Trinity played some great rugby. Galwegians were very adept at slowing the ball down and were lucky not to have more players binned for repeated infringements. The defence had to break and it did when inside centre Brian Hastings went over for a converted try after the play was changed back to the blindside. Later Johnny Watt kicked another penalty after several more minutes camped on the Galwegians line.

 

 

 

 

 

In a weird way this penalty let the pressure off the Connacht team and from the restart they got into the Trinity half, and from a penalty they kicked to the corner. Their massive forwards trundled over after some slack fringe defence from the students. It seemed unbelievable that Galwegians were leading the game after seemingly defending for the entire half.

 

 

 

 

 

With ten minutes to go and three points down, there was only one thing the students could do and that was to continue to attack. This they did and they played the remainder of the game out in the Galwegians 22m metre area. On three occasions they were stopped on their opponents line. Crucially the game came down to a line out five metres out after another Galwegians penalty. From a set move second row Martin Garvey crashed over the line with a Galwegian defender wrapped around his legs. The large crowd cheered with delight at such a well taken try. Everybody but the referee saw the grounding of the ball (including Galwegian players coaches and players – who could not believe their luck after the game) how he missed it, particularly after looking at the video is quite amazing. It was a huge and costly mistake by the official who simply must have lost concentration. Trinity had two more attacks at the line but the visitors who were riding their luck with two sin bins held out much to their credit. Trinity must not blame the referee for this sad defeat, they should never have been behind in the first place, after dominating proceedings. They must look at the lack of concentration in defence that led to two soft tries, and also must be more patient in attack, not forcing the fifty - fifty ball.

 

 

 

 

 

Galwegians came away with the spoils and five points. They also denied Trinity a vital fourth try and the students only have one point to show for their huge effort. This loss leaves the students in deep relegation trouble. They now have seven games to play, five at home. They are eight points behind Galwegians and Ballymena with a game (V Carlow) in hand. The team have really lifted their game since the Christmas break. If they continue to play this type of rugby, the wins can surely be only just around the corner.

 

 

 

 

 

Team 15 Donal Crotty, 14 Philip Howard, 13 Barry Kinsella, 12 Brian Hastings, 11 Shane Hanratty, 10 Johnny Watt, 9 Joey Burns, 1 Niall Conlon, 2 Matt Crockett, 3 Paul Doran Jones, 4 Martin Garvey, 5 Marc Warburton, 6 Peter McFeely. 7 Darren Hayes, 8 Hugh Hogan.

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday the depleted 2^nd XV lost a nail-biter 19-16. They had a penalty to draw the game but missed the kick in the dying minutes. The injury ravaged team played some of their best rugby of the season before losing to Old Belvedere. The 2^nd XV still look good for the play offs but need some players back from an injury list of over 15 senior players.

 

 

 

 

 

The U20s struggled at Seapoint before gaining a bonus point in their 34-8 win. The U20s have one league game remaining against Blackrock next week. They look set for the League play offs where they hope to secure an All Ireland quarter-final place when they can defend their national title.

 

 

 

 

 

The big news of the day was the U20s B who beat Carlow 12-3 in Santry. They have qualified for the play offs for the first time in recent history. Congratulations to the players and coaches Mark McGinty and Dave Hyland along with manager Sheamous Considine. For both the Trinity U20s squads to make the play offs in the same year is a magnificent feat for the entire club.

 

 

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