BUCCANEERS 36 NUI GALWAY 0
In really testing windy and wet conditions at Dubarry Park, Buccaneers U-20’s gradually found their rhythm to comfortably account for NUI Galway by 36-0 on Sunday and thus advance to the Purcell Cup semi-final away to St. Mary’s College next weekend. While Buccs had recorded a good away win over the Students in the league, they had lost to College at home so this was an unexpectedly clearcut victory.
Michael Hanley and Brian McDonnell, who had made major contributions for Buccs Senior XV at Naas, both started as did Darren Browne who came on in the second half at Forenaughts. The opening quarter in really demanding near Arctic weather conditions was understandably sloppy with lots of handling errors by both sides.
A smart tap and go penalty by Hanley opened the scoring after 19 minutes, catching the NUIG defence napping, and he also added the conversion to his try. Five minutes later Dermot O’Rourke broke from the base of a scrum and Sean O’Connell made a strong carry before linking with Hanley who offloaded to Dara Mulvihill. The big winger squeezed in for an unconverted try in the Bounty corner.
Sam Kroupa and Browne made big inroads to pin College back and Fergus Galvin was held up on the line but the sustained pressure was rewarded when the effervescent McDonnell powered over in the right corner for Buccs third try just before halftime to give the Pirates a 17-0 lead.
James Kelly continued the Pirates’ momentum with an early second half surge over the Students line following an impressive series of pick and goes with Hanley adding an excellent conversion. A pinpoint crossfield kick by the standoff found Thomas McGann who scampered in for a 55th minute try which Hanley also converted. The classy winger notched his second eleven minutes later when Kroupa provided swift ball from Cian Daly’s lineout throw. McGann coolly chipped over the defence before arcing in for a try on the right that completed the 36-0 rout of the visitors.
This was a splendid all-round team effort with Hanley and McDonnell again catching the eye as did McGann’s finishing. Galvin and Harry O’Reilly also made noteworthy contributions in this quarter-final win.
BUCCANEERS:- J.Nagle; D.Mulvihill, D.Ennis, C.McMahon, T.McGann; M.Hanley, D.O’Rourke; J.Kelly (captain), D.Browne, H.O’Reilly; F.Galvin, S.Kroupa; S.O’Connell, G.Catarino and B.McDonnell. Replacements:- J.Curley (for McDonnell, h/t), C.Daly (for Browne, 50 mins), E.Cooney (for Kelly, 55 mins), S.Flynn (for Hanley, 55 mins), S.O’Carroll (for Mulvihill, 60 mins), C.Watt (for Catarino, 60 mins) and K.Foxe (for McMahon, 60 mins).
