Eric Elwood may have Five Nations thoughts in the back of his mind but his 14 points in the last five minutes of normal time at Lansdowne Road on Saturday presented much more immediate concerns for his old club Lansdowne. The Ireland out-half was cardinal in the Galwegians revival that saw them take full advantage of the opposition's flagging interest towards the end, even if victory was out of reach.
The first-half scoring chances were scattered. Left-wing Rory Kearns made the most of Lansdowne's penalty awards, landing two out of three. Then the first real Galwegians invasion just before the half hour, started by a penetrating Pat Duignan run, ended up with a try for number eight Barry Gavin. Kearns, however, made sure Lansdowne stayed clear, adding a third penalty and striking an excellent conversion of Colin McEntee's try. The number eight had gained possession from a short chip by Galwegians full-back Alan Reddan and charged down the line for the touchdown to leave Lansdowne 16-5 in front.
Elwood, meanwhile, was slowly but surely making his presence felt. His successful penalty left it 16-8 at the break and his combination with centre Mervyn Murphy and winger Nigel Carolan created some hints of a Galwegians threat. Unfortunately for them, Gordon D'Arcy strolled through their sleeping forwards 10 minutes after the restart and with one pass found Kearns with a clear run for a try. Barry Everitt later had all the time in the world to add a drop goal to leave Lansdowne safely ahead.
That just left the final period of magic by Elwood. After an extended delay while Galwegians second-row Jimmy Duffy was stretchered off, Elwood must have decided to take the passing game into his own hands. His first try on 75 minutes was pure determination, created from an ordinary pass from scrum-half David Mescal, while his second three minutes later also came from pure grit. Even with some seven minutes of added play, however, time just ran out for Galwegians. The Lansdowne backs tightened up under the instructions of captain Kurt McQuilkin and held on for the four-point victory.
Scoring sequence: 13 mins: Kearns penalty, 3-0; 25 mins: Kearns penalty, 6-0; 29 mins: Gavin try, 6-5; 32 mins: Kearns penalty, 9-5; 37 mins: McEntee try, Kearns conversion, 16-5; 40 mins:Elwood penalty, 16-8; 50 mins: Kearns try, conversion 23-8; 55 mins: Everitt drop goal, 26-8; 35 mins: Elwood try, conversion 26-15; 38 mins: Elwood try, conversion 26-22.
Lansdowne: G D'Arcy; M Dillon, N Gunne, K McQuilkin, R Kearns; B Everitt, D O'Mahony; R Corrigan, P Grimes, A McKeen, G Fulcher, S O'Conner, S McEntee, L Toland, C McEntee. Replacements: E Bohan for Corrigan (76 mins) C Egan for Grimes 80).
Galwegians: A Reddan: H O'Toole, P Duignan, M Murphy, N Carolan; E Elwood, D Mescal; P Kay, D Lee, D Dobson, P Casserley, J Duffy, J Casserley, J Charlie, B Gavin. Replacements: P Rowe for Duffy (59 mins).
Referee: B Smith (MRA)
