GEORGE GALBRAITH capped an admirable comeback by Belvedere to earn a replay against UCD after an absorbing McCor Cup final at Donnybrook yesterday. The winger popped up for the vital last-minute score which sees Belvedere live to fight another day against a UCD team who had seemed to be cruising to victory.
In an opening half played a frantic pace it was UCD who scored first when wing forward Brendan Murphy crashed over following a line-out on the Belvedere 25. Out-half Emmet Farrell added the points.
Belvedere hit back on IS minutes with a fine backline move finished off by Galbraith, who sprinted the final 20 yards to the corner. The conversion was missed but centre Barry O'Brien gave his side the lead with a superbly struck penalty from wide on the right in the 20th minute.
O'Brien extended the margin with another penalty under the posts after 29 minutes and Belvedere held that advantage to the break. Farrell brought the students back into contention with a well-struck penalty just after the break.
Another two penalties from Farrell gave UCD a healthy looking advantage. They were well in control at this stage but Belvedere full-back Billy Treacy broke from inside his own half to set up a series of scrums on the students' line. Just when it seemed UCD might hang on, scrum-half Damien Ward fed Galbraith on the short side for the precious final score.
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