Athy hold out for success

IN an important first versus second Leinster South East J2/J3 League tie Wexford Wanderers Second XV hosted Athy last Sunday at Park Lane in the first match of a double header with the Barrowside club.

The game had huge significance for both clubs with Athy having narrowly won at the death of the previous meeting six weeks ago by a mere two points.

The encounter at Park Lane started with Wexford under severe pressure form the off as Athy tried to move the ball rapidly along their backline.

However despite the pressure Wanderers managed to weather the storm and on the half hour mark outhalf Richie Waters managed to breakthrough and score under the posts to give himself the easiest of conversions.

Five minutes later Willie Morris came up from under a mass of bodies with the ball after a huge effort from the forwards carried him over the line to give Wexford a 12-0 lead at the interval.

In the second period the game ebbed and flowed until full-back O’Neill crossed in the corner for an unconverted try following some excellent link play with Richards and replacement winger Deveraux.

Athy however managed to rally and break through the centre of the park to score under the posts. The score gave them momentum and they quickly added another two tries and a conversion to take a narrow 17-19 win.

The same margin as the previous encounter between the sides. Next up for Wexford is a trip to Kilkenny in the New Year in what will be a busy January with three consecutive weekends of action. in other news the Club Christmas party will be held next Saturday in the Clubhouse at 8pm.

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Team: Bob O’Leary, Aaron Smythe, Jason Guerrine, Reece Moore, Cillian McConville, Alan Kinsella, James O’Connor, Willie Morris, James Bolger, Richie Waters, Chris Walsh, Chris Vickery, Noel Richards, Owen Cardiff, Aaron O’Neill. Subs: John Gannon, Pat Toomey, Rory Deveraux, Trevor Deveraux, Chris Hurley.