Corinthians continued on their winning ways against lowly Barnhall this Saturday despite a slow start. This is despite the fact that Corinthians had several enforced changes one of which was due to Tim Donnelly being called up to the Connaught squad. Mark O’Boyle stepped up to the plate to replace Donnelly, linking up well with his scrum half Michael Roche and with centre Wayne Williams taking over the kicking duties. The first penalty opportunity for Corinthians was missed but the visitors started well 3 minutes later with a try by winger Dave Murphy which was set up by a Wayne Williams slip pass but which then went unconverted. The opening 30 minutes of the game was disrupted with plenty of errors by both sides and Barnhall missed two kickable penalty opportunities in this time. Forty three minutes into the game, Corinthians also missed an opportunity to put another score on the board from a penalty and the half time score was Barnhall 0 – Corinthians 5.
The start of the second half started well for Corinthians, with Barnhall giving away a penalty after one of their back row infringed on their 22, which Williams then converted. With the visitors leading eight points to nil, the home side hit back with a fine try which was scored by Ben McCarthy in the corner. This was converted by McCarthy leaving the score 7 – 8. Wayne Williams converted another penalty 15 minutes into the 2nd half after a series of penalties were conceded by Barnhall. Not long after this a well taken lineout by Pat Cunningham led to a quick ball out to the back line, with Wayne Williams making good ground before off loading to full back Darren Classons who came into the line at speed to get the touch down which was converted by Williams. With Corinthians now leading by eighteen points to seven they seemed to be in full control but a yellow card for lack of discipline by Wayne Williams put the visitors under pressure. The home side started to press forward and wing forward Jason Van Hout got through for a try but the conversion was missed by McCarthy leaving the final score Barnhall 12 – 18 Corinthians. This leaves Corinthians finishing up the weekend in 2nd place on the league table and sets up a great local derby next weekend at home against Connemara. This is the last game before the break for Christmas and kicks off in Cloonacauneen at 2.30pm after which the Lotto draw for a break away in Berlin will take place. Checkout http://www.galwaycorinthians.com for details and to enter into the draw!
Corinthians: D. Classens, D. Murphy, W. Williams, C. Begley, R. Forbes, M. O Boyle, M. Roche, P. McCrannor, D. Bardon, D. Small, P. Cunningham (Capt), S. Murphy, B. McCann, T. Linnane, A. Casanova.
