Bravery of underdogs not enough

It was end-of-season cup final fare at the Sportsground yesterday. Two patched-up teams slugged it out for just over 80 minutes with Buccaneers, their name written on the trophy from early in the game, out-playing a fearless but fatally weakened Galwegians.

Still, Buccaneers will joyfully cap their remarkable season with the provincial silverware and will do so deservingly. With the winners missing five of their regular All Ireland League players, and Galwegians missing four, including their two first choice props, it was little challenge to predict that a vintage final was not on the menu.

The fact that Galwegians were murdered in the scrums made life that much more difficult for them, and with Ireland out-half Eric Elwood forced to watch the game due to his commitment to the Irish side's tour to Australia, coach George Hook marshalled his last game with Galwegians with a final air of dispondency, hardly displaying any real surprise at the outcome. With the four Rigneys, Brian, Colm, Donal and Des, starting the match, the Buccaneers pack certainly had a family feel to it. Add to the pack prop Martin Cahill and the problems for Galwegians were clearly evident.

Losing flanker Junior Charlie with a shoulder problem after half an hour simply exacerbated their frustrations, as they were forced to play catch-up rugby from the time Cahill first bustled his way over for a try after just five minutes.

While Galwegians responded with a penalty six minutes later through full-back Stephen Hutchinson, Buccaneers went on to establish a dominant lead of 18-3.

There was simply no way back for Galwegians. Donal Rigney galloped down the left flank for a try on 36 minutes, while another Allnutt penalty was thin reward for the efforts of Buccaneers.

Cahill was a driving force, as was Colm Rigney at number eight for Buccaneers, with captain Mervyn Murphy and winger Nigel Carolan lifting Galwegians in the final 20 minutes.

Hooker Joe McVeigh barged over after a line-out on 50 minutes to give Buccaneers a 23-3 lead before Galwegians finally shook themselves from their stupor.

Out-half Sean Molloy agonisingly knocked on just a step away from scoring after 55 minutes, while 60 seconds later lock Jimmy Duffy burst through to touch down only to be mystified by the referee's decision that he had knocked on going over. Alan Reddan finally knifed through for Galwegians to claw back some ground at 23-10, before Allnutt capitalised on a fumble from Buccaneers to again put light between the scores. A final flourish from Galwegians allowed the athletic Carolan in for his two scores for a 28-22 scoreline, in the process bringing a long season to a close.

Scoring sequence: 5 mins M Cahill try, S Allnutt con 7-0; S Hutchinson pen 7-3; 12 mins S Allnutt pen 10-3; 36 mins Donal Rigney try 15-3; 40 mins S Allnutt pen 18-3. 50 mins J McVeigh try 23-3; 61 mins A Reddan try, M Murphy con 23-10; 73 mins S Allnutt try 28-10; N Carolan try 28-15; 83 mins N Carolan try, con 28-22.

Buccaneers: A Connolly; R Larkin, C Gormley, O Cobbe, T Trainor; S Allnutt, S McIvor; C Hannon, J McVeigh, M Cahill, B Rigney (capt), Donal Rigney, Des Rigney, E Brennan, C Rigney. Replacements: A Hanley for Brennan 40 mins; P Lynch for Gormley 61 mins; R Keady for B Rigney 65 mins; N Daly for McVeigh 73 mins.

Galwegians: S Hutchinson; P Duignan, A Reddan, M Murphy (capt), N Carolan; S Molloy, D Reddan; H Doyle, D Lee, F Filan, G Heaslip, J Duffy, B Gavin, J Charlie, J Caserley. Replacements: G Dinneen for Charlie 29 mins; J Heaslip for D Reddan 44 mins; P Rowe for Hutchinson 44 mins; K Tierney for Lee 73 mins.

Referee P Gilmore (Connacht).