E’CORTHYRUGBY
Enniscorthy 33, Naas 12: The Enniscorthy Under-13s continued their winning ways on Saturday at Ross Road with a 33-12 result versus Naas in their first Leinster League Division 1 match.
The wet ball led to a lot of handling errors and the first six minutes witnessed a lot of knock-ons by Enniscorthy, but to their credit also a lot of turnovers to regain possession and keep pressure on Naas.
This eventually resulted in the blindside flanker, Pádraig Waters, gathering the ball off the back of a ruck and he proved way too strong for the defenders who couldn’t hold him as he scored under the posts about seven minutes into the game. Rhyan Whelan converted to leave the home side 7-0 up.
Naas continued to put pressure on Enniscorthy with some strong kicking, and their ability to move the ball out quickly to the wings led to their first try in the left-hand corner after a good run from the ten-metre line.
Four minutes later Enniscorthy’s Joe Doyle - who had an exceptional game at outside centre - received the ball and despite the attentions of two defenders he scored their second try under the posts.
Just before half-time, Enniscorthy hooker, Jack Whelan, gained possession and mauled over in a great show of strength only to be held up in the corner. From the five-metre scrum Enniscorthy knocked on.
Naas played the advantage and kicked well downfield where the fullback fielded and kicked back upfield where Joe Doyle gathered expertly. From the resulting ruck, second-row Cody Denton made no mistake to score under the posts, leaving Enniscorthy 21-5 up at the break.
After the re-start there were a lot of handling errors from both sides with the greasy ball getting the better of them at times. Jack Kavanagh at flyhalf continued to manage the game well however and, twelve minutes into the second-half, Enniscorthy had the ball up on the Naas ‘22 when openside flanker Cian Dobbs-Doyle received it and handed off several defenders to race into the corner and score the first of two tries.
The second came nine minutes later when full-back Jack Hennessy caught a relieving kick from Naas, rounded several defenders and off-loaded to Cian Dobbs-Doyle who brushed aside the last defender to score right under the posts.
With Rhyan Whelan kicking very well and getting five conversions, Enniscorthy went into the last minute of the game 33-5 up.
Just on the 50 minutes Naas capitalised on some handling errors to run in a good try which was converted by Edward Choiseul to leave Enniscorthy winning their first game of the Leinster League 33-12.
For the winners, Rory Lynch, Cian Dobbs-Doyle and Jack Whelan were very strong in the forwards, while Joe Doyle had a great game at outside centre.
Enniscorthy: Jack Hennessy, Rhyan Whelan (Seán Doyle, 45), Joe Doyle (David Nolan, 45), Robert Chapman (Dylan Purcell, 45), Connell Kelly (Luke Wheelock, 40), Jack Kavanagh (Jason Sheridan, 40), Tommi Cahill (Adam Power, HT), Lee Quigley (Cillian Hanrahan, 35), Jack Whelan (Gavin O’Connor, 45), Eoin Sheridan-Pope (Brian Lett, HT), Cody Denton, Rory Lynch, Pádraig Waters, Cian DobbsDoyle, Dylan Butler.
Enniscorthy 31, Portlaoise 24: This was an enthralling Leinster Under-14 league battle between two evenly-matched teams, with the home boys shading it at the end thanks mainly to their disciplined defensive display.
Enniscorthy got off to the best possible start when, from the opening drop-off, centre Arron Quigley grabbed the ball and ripped the Portlaoise de- fence apart to score under the posts. James Kalyta added the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
Five minutes later a marvellous break from Kalyta set full-back Darragh Kehoe free down the right wing, and from the halfway line he skinned the visitors’ defence to touch down in the corner.
Portlaoise bounced back, however, to score a brace of tries themselves. Number 8 Marco Byrne picked from the back of a scrum and Arron Quigley was on his shoulder to score the third try, with Kalyta adding the conversion for a 19-14 lead at the break.
Enniscorthy continued to take the game to the visitors and they scored two further tries through Arron Quigley and a brilliant Darragh Kehoe run. James Kalyta added the conversion.
As the clock wound down the home team had to withstand a Portlaoise barrage, as the visitors managed to score two tries to put the result in the melting pot. Enniscorthy, however, defended brilliantly with Conor Walsh, Levi Rozsa, Ian Rigley and Ciarán Doyle to the fore.
The Enniscorthy boys sit proudly on top of section A on points difference ahead of Navan.
Team: Lawrence Power, Aidan Whelan, Conor Walsh, Ian Rigley, Ciarán Doyle, Levante Rozsa, Sam Geraghty, Jude Green, James Kinsella, Liam Byrne, Arron Quigley, James Kalyta, Brian Cronin, Darragh Kehoe. Subs. (all used) - Mark Aspley, Cathal Kennedy, Lee Moore, Mervyn Rogan, James De Lacey, Nathan Murphy.
Wexford Wanderers 27, Enniscorthy 22: Enniscorthy produced a thrilling second-half comeback against Wexford Wanderers at Park Lane on Saturday in the Under-17 league after being 17-10 down at half-time.
Their two try scorers in the opening half were out-half Ben Kidd who made a fine break outside the home team’s ’22, and number 8 Temi Lasisi who picked from the back of a scrum to touch down, but both conversions were missed.
They played some outstanding rugby in the second period, adding two further tries from flying centre Conor Byrne and second row Jake Freeman who touched down the fourth five-pointer, with Kidd adding the conversion to put Enniscorthy 22-17 in front.
Alas, the home team were not to be outdone and they scored two late tries, with the winning one deep in injury time to secure a super win.
Team: Ben Bailey, Jack Saunders, Tom Mannion, Neil Kidd, Jake Freeman, Jim Doyle, Conor Blyth, Temi Lasisi, Con Maher, Ben Kidd, Tadhg Maher, Mickey Nolan, Conor Byrne, Miguel Byrne, Conor Kavanagh-Morris. Subs. used - Gavin Redmond, Odhran French, Jack Kehoe.
Enniscorthy/Wexford 21, Longford 14: The long journey for Enniscorthy/Wexford’s Under-18s to face Longford proved to be a fruitful experience when they came away with a seven-point win.
The win was all the more rewarding as they were 14 points down after 20 minutes before they got their act together. They scored their opening try after a superb break from Cian Wickham was illegally tackled on the line and the referee awarded a penalty try. Mark Power kicked the conversion.
Early in the second-half E/W restored parity when Barry Ryan touched down in the corner and Power kicked a fine conversion.
They really got on top and in the final ten minutes the winning score came from Michael McGinty, with Mark Power adding the conversion for a fine win.
Team: David Afton, Barry Ryan, Steven Hickey, J.P. Farrell, Stephen Hadley, Ryan Hodge, Brian Deeny, Chris Glover, Diarmuid McDonald, Mark Power, Michael McGinty, Danny Ryan, Sebastian Pim, Cameron O’Leary, Cian Wickham.