Ulster Bank AIL 27th October 2018
Scorers: Quinn(1*Try), Bloomfield(2*Try), Magrath(2*Pen)
After a difficult start to the season, Rainey Old Boys picked up their first points when they defeated Galway Corinthians 21-17 at a bitterly cold Hatrick Park. It was a far from convincing display, but, as they say, a win is a win. After scoring two tries in the opening quarter, a bonus point victory looked a strong possibility, but Rainey could not sustain the momentum as they conceded an inordinate number of penalties and struggled to get out of second gear thereafter. They remain in bottom spot, with a late penalty try taking Corinthians above Skerries, who come to Rainey on Saturday.
Rainey had a gusty wind behind them, but made little headway in the opening minutes, conceding penalties to allow the Galway side into their half. But, after eight minutes, Rainey scored a lovely try, which was the highlight of a scrappy encounter. From a scrum on the home 10', No8 Magowan picked up and fed scrum-half Bloomfield, who switched direction for his threequarters to move it wide and send wing Quinn clear from halfway.
While the visitors' outside backs were allowed to get away with encroching throughout the game, Rainey were pinged by a whistle-happy official every few minutes and this meant that they had quite a lot of defending to do. But after 19 minutes, Rainey increased their lead to 10-0. From a great attacking position, wing Donaghy and flanker Harbinson both had a go before Magrath sent half-back partner Bloomfield through for a good try. They looked like increasing their lead when Magrath broke to the Corinthians 22', but he was unable to link with his support.
As the penalty count continued to rise, Rainey found themselves at the wrong end of the field and shortly before half-time, their defence was caught out by a wide pass for Corinthians to run in at the corner. Rainey spent the last five minutes of the half in the Corinthians 22', forcing three very kickable penalties, but they chose to go to the corner each time and made nothing of it.
The Rainey scrum was beginning to creak and penalties took Corinthians down into the Rainey 22'. A short throw to the front caught Rainey napping and from fifteen yards the visitors took the opportunity to score in the corner and level the score at 10-10. Rainey managed to raise the tempo to move it wide and back inside to earn a penalty which Magrath kicked to edge them ahead again. A wild lineout tap forced Bloomfield into conceding a five metre scrum and it took some good defending to keep the Galway men out.
Magowan, who unfortunately will not be able to appear regularly, was Rainey's best player and it was he who supplied the spark which they badly needed. Taking an inside pass, he went up the middle over halfway before using his support, and featured again as play broke down bang in front of the posts. Another penalty made it 16-10. Corinthians came back strongly in a good litle spell, but a try right out of the blue changed the picture. When the ball went loose near the touchline on the halfway line, Bloomfield was first to seize the opportunity and race clear. There was to be no catching him until an ankle tap tackle in the dead ball area prevented him from scoring behind the posts. A timely opportunist effort which made an unlikely bonus point a real possibility in the remaining eighteen minutes or so.
But Rainey could not sustain the charge and it was Corinthians who dominated the last quarter. A great tackle by centre Damien McMurray saved the day and Corinthians were held up. Just why the referee found eight minutes of added time remains a mystery, but with the Rainey scrum in trouble again, he awarded a penalty try. Another two minutes were played before Scott McLean put the ball in touch to put the home crowd out of their misery.
TEAM : M.O'Neill, O.Quinn, C.Fitzsimons, D.McMurray, A.Donaghy, A.Magrath, J.Bloomfield, F.Quinn, G.Fritz, K.Donaghy, J.McCusker, M.McCusker, A.Harbinson, P.Pritchard, P.Magowan.
REPLACEMENTS USED: C.Clarke, J.McIntosh, M.Caithness, S.McLean.