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Brave Gallen CS Run Out Of Steam As Garbally Progress

Thursday, 29 December 2011

Garbally College, Ballinasloe 23.
Gallen Community School, Ferbane 12.


GALLEN CS came agonisingly close to beating Connacht kingpins Garbally College on their home turf on Thursday last but a late tour de force from the Ballinasloe college sent the Gallen boys home disappointed.
Played in Ballinasloe on a pitch typical of winter months, both sides found the underfoot conditions extremely difficult to deal with and it was very much an afternoon for keeping the ball tight in the pack.
With the floodlights in operation and the dedicated minority of spectators cheering both sets of players on, their was a great atmosphere around and the players fed off this and made the game as enjoyable as possible considering the conditions.
Gallen CS just about made the line up with only 15 players making the trip across the Shannon. Illness and injury deprived them off a few key players but nonetheless the 15 players that took to the field did themselves and their school proud and only succumbing to the Garbally men in the final 10 minutes where the victors fitness and experience stood out.
The Ferbane school may also have a strong case with the referee on the day who on numerous occasions seemed to penalise the Offaly men for no apparent reason and let the Ballinasloe men away with blatant infringements.
At times the Gallen lads became increasingly frustrated and with this came the concession of needless penalties especially in the last quarter when Garbally ran in the two tries to kill the game off.
Garbally definitely had the fitness on Gallen but the Ferbane school more than held their own in the physical stakes. They were far superior in the scrum with the front row of Marcus Dunne, Conor Kelly and hooker James Lowry dominating the front row battle.
Joseph Egan soared high in the sky in the line outs and even robbed a couple in the second half with number eight Conor Kenny a constant driving force for the Offaly school. Kenny picked and drove on every possible chance and was all that was good about their performance.
Flanker Niall Higgins enhanced his reputation as a no nonsense, all business forward with a commanding display capped off with a neat try. Out half Colin Kenny did extremely well for the try and broke the gain line frequently throughout the game but it wasn't a day for kicking which is one of the strongest aspects of his game.
Livewire centre Michael Butler cut through the Garbally line like butter but never made the final push to the line. His explosive speed meant that he had little support up with him when he was eventually brought to ground.
Full back Brian McEvoy also had a solid game and dealt with garryowen's all day along as well as making a try saving grounding deep into the second half.
Gallen had a shaky start and were behind to an early try in the third minute from Anthony Curley. This sparked the Ferbane school into life and they owned possession for the remainder of the half. Having weathered the early Garbally storm, they pressed forward and camped in their opponents half.
Eventually in the 16th minute, their pressure paid off and after waves of pressure and attacks on the try line, James Lowry, Ronan McEvoy, Conor Kenny and Niall Higgins all played a hand in setting up Colin Kenny who barged his way over the line for a deserved try. Kenny missed the tricky conversion and the sides stayed level on 5-5.
With the pressure been kept up it was only a matter of time before Gallen crossed again and they did just that in the 22nd minute. Pressure in the forward division kept Garbally on the back foot and as they moved the ball out left Michael Butler made a great break before flanker Niall Higgins eventually touched down. Colin Kenny nailed the conversion and they now led 12-5.
There was no more action on the scoreboard before the half time whistle but they level of intensity never wilted. The physicality of the game was immense and with a monumental first half effort came the inevitable drop in intensity in the second half.
Garbally rolled on a few fresh legs, a luxury that the Ferbane school didn't have.
By the 48th minute Garbally had the lead after a try and a penalty edged them into a 13-12 lead with the Gallen lads struggling and playing against whatever breeze was in it.
They continued to battle however and with a bit of luck they could have easily got another try. Some unfortunate handling errors and a few strange calls by the referee denied them any further scores with the Garbally men running in another try and penalty in the final ten minutes to run out 23-12 winners on what was a very flattering score line.

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