Five-Try Trinity Leave ‘Wegians In Their Wake
Galwegians suffered their biggest Ulster Bank League defeat in a few years when they were outplayed by a determined and in-form Dublin University team at College Park.
It was a bad day at the office for the Division 1B leaders who were well off the pace, allowing Trinity to dictate as they extended their own unbeaten to seven matches – six wins and a draw – and confirmed themselves as live promotion contenders.
Tony Smeeth's youngsters set the tone when their outstanding German underage international centre Sebastian Fromm crossed in the corner for a fifth minute try.
Things then went from bad to worse for Galwegians when seven minutes later Trinity tighthead prop Tom Collis plunged over for a second unconverted effort from a maul, meaning the Blues found themselves 10-0 down before the game had effectively started.
Despite this, Matt Brown's men have managed to overcome similar or worse deficits in three of their earlier Division 1B victories this season, so there should have been no cause for panic at this stage.
They eventually gained a foothold and full-back John Cleary had two long range penalty attempts, only to be off target on both occasions. For all their possession the visitors were proving wasteful, and Trinity had clearly done their homework on the table toppers, with their back row and particularly flanker Brian du Toit proving to be a handful.
'Wegians eventually managed to get on the scoreboard in the 37th minute to get back into the game. When they finally got their maul going, it produced immediate dividends when number 8 Anthony Ryan touched down from a powerful forward drive.
Although unconverted, a five-point deficit at the break would have been very retrievable, but just on the stroke of half-time the hosts were awarded a penalty for offside, which was slotted over by Jack McDermott for a morale-boosting 13-5 scoreline.
Galwegians coaches Brown and John Muldoon had strong words at half-time and immediately on the restart, the Blues seemed to up the tempo. However, they again seemed to be playing into the students' hands, as the hosts dealt comfortably with the threat.
The momentum soon switched once more, and with the lively Trinity back-line looking increasingly threatening, it took a last-ditch tackle from Cleary to keep the hosts at bay on 45 minutes.
The first score of the second half would always prove to be crucial, and it went the way of Trinity on the hour mark. It followed some good back-line play which eventually outwitted the Blues defence, with in-form out-half McDermott diving over for his side's third try.
18-5 down and out of sorts, 'Wegians knew they were still in the game, and eventually they roused themselves to exert some pressure. However, yet another promising position in their opponents' 22 came to nothing.
Needing to take risks, they then threw caution to the wind in their attempts to salvage something. Unfortunately this caught up with them, and a missed tackle allowed the students seal what could prove to be a crucial bonus point victory with lock Jack Burke crossing for a try that McDermott converted.
With their heads now dropped, the Blues conceded a fifth try late on when Trinity winger Conor Kearns added his fifth try of the season from a quick turnover. A final penalty from McDermott right on full-time rubbed salt into the Galwegian wounds and capped off the shock result of the day.
Referee: Jonathan Peak (IRFU)