Connemara - 21 Buccaneers - 10 The Connemara All Blacks were dancing the haka in the hills of the far west last night after claiming their first Connacht Senior Cup.
Having won the AIB League Division Three trophy last season in their first year as a senior club, they added another piece of silverware to their collection when overcoming Buccaneers in Crowley Park.
It mattered little to the All Blacks that this Connacht Senior Cup decider resembled little of the showpiece it once was, or that the fare on offer was decidedly lacking as an end-of-season highlight.
Finally, after several attempts over the past few years, the Connemara outfit had taken its place in the annals of Connacht's senior cup history.
On a day when most Galway support was in Pearse Stadium, a paltry 200 witnessed the All Blacks' historic victory, and it was a victory they deserved.
Their opponents, the Division One semi-finalists, lined out with just two contracted players, Tim Robinson and Ronnie McCormack. To make matters worse Robinson was carded in the first half.
With 10 of their 15 from the under-21 and under-20 ranks, and just five regular first team starters, their youthful presence took a battering from the hard men of the west, particularly in the rucks where the All Blacks turned over a staggering amount of possession, despite struggling to establish territorial control.
With the aid of the strong breeze, Connemara established their winning platform when opening the scoring with a 15th minute penalty from the 10 metre line from outhalf Mark Foyle.
It had come against the run of play as Buccaneers enjoyed dominance, and it took 25 minutes before the All Blacks broke into their opponents' 22. However, they made it count when they did.
A long kick from Foyle caught both full back Justin Meagher and Anthony Dowling napping - they awoke to find their sluggish clearance blocked by Connemara's Noel King, who won the race for the right corner.
Buccaneers continued to pay the price for their lethargy as Foyle added two late penalties in the half to stretch the lead to 0-16 at the break.
Although Buccaneers raised their game in the second half, finally getting on the scoreboard with a penalty from replacement outhalf Damien Hunt after 51 minutes, the turning point came just minutes later when Connemara once again displayed their greater hunger, breaking through and stealing line-out ball before rumbling their way forward until Bernard Keaney barged over.
At 3-21 Buccaneers needed to turn possession into points. Robinson did his best when setting up Niall O'Hara after 67 minutes for a try, while Paddy O'Sullivan came close with his left wing break before losing the chase for the ball.
Time after time Buccaneers simply lost possession through poor handling and their failure to vary their options in scoring positions, and in the end it was to the chants of "Haka Haka Connemara" that the Connacht Senior Cup's destination was decided.
It was a double whammy for Buccaneers, who had earlier lost the Connacht Junior League final to Monivea by 6 - 0.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 15 mins: Foyle pen 3-0; 27 mins: N King try, Foyle con 10-0; 34 mins: Foyle pen 13-0; 43 mins: Foyle pen 16-0. Half-time: 16-0; 51 mins: Hunt pen 16-3; 54 mins: Keaney try 21-3; 67 mins: N O'Hara try, Hunt con 21-10.
CONNEMARA: M Walsh; N King, B Sexton, P O'Neill, O'Toole, M Foyle; C Dolan, F Wood; T King, G King, F Madden, K Keogh, N Walsh, B Keaney, O Delapp. Replacements: G Burke for T King (9 mins).
BUCCANEERS: J Meagher; A Downey, P O'Sullivan, N O'Hara, S Meagher; D Connellan, T Robinson; A Nash, M Madden, R McCormack, N Smullen, J Tormey, MJ Hillhouse, R O'Toole, G Kenny. Replacements: D Hunt for Connellan (44 mins), D Kelly for Hillhouse (62 mins). Yellow cards: T Robinson 21mins; J Meagher 33 mins.
Referee: D Fahy (Connacht).
The Auckland Blues beat the ACT Brumbies 42-21 on Saturday to set up a repeat of the 1998 Super 12 final against the Canterbury Crusaders.
The defending champions Crusaders reached their fifth final in six years on Friday by defeating Wellington Hurricanes 39-16 in Christchurch.
The May 24th final at Eden Park will be the third between two New Zealand teams since 1998, when the Crusaders won the first of their four titles against the Blues, ending a run of two straight wins by Auckland.
