LEADING 10-7 after thirty-two minutes, Rainey Old Boys proceeded to press the self-destruct button in style to concede twenty-six points in the next thirteen minutes against Corinthians, leaving themselves with a mountain to climb.

A combination of positional switches and fresh legs saw them launch a comeback which earned them two bonus points, but the Galway visitors held on for a 33-31 victory.

The Old Boys looked likely winners at a stage, but a number of missed tackles and dropped passes again proved costly. Their points against total speaks for itself.

A much taller Corinthians side had the wind behind them as they pressed forward in the opening minutes during which Rainey caused themselves problems with a few wayward passes.

They managed to keep the Westerners at bay and broke out to score a brilliant try after ten minutes to delight the Hatrick Park faithful. Jody McMurray and wing Suiter were involved before the ball was brought back infield for Jerome McMurray to make ground before transferring to prop O'Kane.

He powered his way into the '22' to send Jody McMurray in for a super try which Glancy converted. Corinthians missed a simple penalty before Jody McMurray made a lovely break only for quick ruck ball to be wasted.

A penalty to the corner presented Rainey with a catch and drive opportunity but they lost control at the back of the maul. After 25 minutes Rainey conceded a soft try. When O'Kane dropped the ball coming out of defence Corinthians stole lineout ball to feed centre Begley who strolled over at the posts leaving McDonagh with a simple conversion.
A neat grubber kick gave Rainey an anxious moment, but they went ahead again on the half hour when the Corinthians No.8 was penalized for a late tackle.

Rainey were in control at this stage, but the picture was to change dramatically. A clever box-kick from scrum-half Considine left wing Buckley with a simple task. McDonagh converted but then miscued with another shot at goal.

Then right on half-time another dropped ball from a bad pass allowed Corinthians to pour forward and increase their lead through second-row Louden. McDonagh converted to give his side a 21-10 lead.

Rainey were fortunate not to concede a try straight from the restart kick which went directly into touch. Some powder-puff tackling and failure to deal with a chip ahead had them clinging on, but after a stoppage for an injury their central defence was non existent when wing Claasens was put clear for a try.

A good Rainey move ended with O'Kane offloading to the opposition and when Kerr failed to hold a pass on the visitors' '22' they broke upfield for centre Taylor to add to the Old Boys' misery.

Rainey replied with a catch and drive try from hooker Heaney, but another terrible pass put them on the back foot again. A series of attacks should have produced a try before Heaney was yellow carded following a flare-up among the forwards, but when O'Kane went through for a try they began to harbour hopes of salvaging something from the wreckage.

Rodney Paul was switched to out-half as Rainey found an extra gear, but O'Kane had the ball knocked from his grasp following good work by wing McBride.

They maintained the pressure, but just couldn't get the final pass away. In the 80th minute Rodney Paul broke wide from a scrum to send wing Walsh in for Rainey's fourth try, converted from a wide angle by Heaney. In injury time Rainey worked their way back upfield,but ran out of time.

Team - Rodney Paul, N.Suiter, Jerome McMurray, Jody McMurray, J.Mc Bride, M.Glancy, Richard Paul, P.Hawkins, C.Heaney, N.O'Kane, P.Boyle, A.Kerr, D. Dawson, E.Stewart, R.McCrea. Replacements - T.Walsh (Jerome McMurray 44) M.Glendinning (Mc Crea57) S.Mc Dowell (Hawkins 63) G.Martin (Glancy 65) K.Campton (Boyle 74)