ENNISCORTHY RUGBY
Enniscorthy 10, Navan 0: Enniscorthy travelled to Navan for their Leinster Plate clash recently.
Navan are a good side and were firm favourites to win the game, especially with Enniscorthy having lost a few players to injury.
It was a good game but without much flair or panache with the exception of Enniscorthy’s Luke Wheelock - having moved from wing forward to wing back - who must have been to NASA for a refill of rocket fuel as he burned a trail up the right wing.
He won the game for Enniscorthy with his seventh-minute try when he received the ball just short of his own ten-metre line and scorched past all the defenders for a magnificent score right under the posts, which Rhyan Whelan tapped over to leave Enniscorthy 7-0 which is how the first-half finished.
Both teams played some good rugby in the second-half and Navan made some fine runs at Enniscorthy, only to be thwarted by the defence which held firm.
Navan gave away a number of penalties and Enniscorthy moved the ball upfield in a very well-worked, patient movement until they got a penalty inside the ‘22 right in front of the posts which Rhyan Whelan scored.
This put them10-0 ahead and that was how the game ended as Enniscorthy held off a few late challenges from Navan to emerge victorious.
As R&B Rebels (Roscrea/Birr) have conceded in the quarter-final, Enniscorthy meet Mullingar on April 21 in the semi-final of the Leinster Plate.
Enniscorthy: Jack Kavanagh, Connell Kelly, Joe Doyle, Rhyan Whelan (Jason Sheridan), Luke Wheelock, Seán Guiney, Tommy Cahill, Eoin Sheridan-Pope (Lee Quigley), Rory Lynch, Cody Denton (Gavin O’Connor), Pádraig Waters (Cillian Hanrahan), Cian Dobbs-Doyle, Dylan Purcell, Jack Whelan, Paul Byrne
(Dylan Butler). Replacements: Adam Power, Tomás Guiney.
Carlow 29, Enniscorthy 7: Enniscorthy travelled to Oak Park for the semi-final of the South East Cup, having shown great form in the Leinster League and the Leinster Plate in beating Edenderry and Navan away over the previous ten days.
Carlow are a huge, physical side and that was the difference between the teams as Enniscorthy’s tackling let them down and allowed Carlow’s three large ball-carriers to dominate the game.
There was some good rugby played, but when Carlow went ahead with the tries, both converted about midway through the first-half, the writing was on the wall.
At half-time Carlow were 19-0 ahead after converting two of their three tries. In the second-half, Enniscorthy rallied again and were almost through but some strong defensive action from Carlow denied them a score.
Enniscorthy lost three players to injury early in the second-half and brought on another five replacements midway through.
Unfortunately, Carlow had a resurgence, scoring another two tries to put them 29-0 ahead.
However, with five minutes to go, Enniscorthy showed some of the form of previous weeks when prop forward Cody Denton had a fabulous ‘Ginger’ McLoughlin moment when he received the ball on the Carlow ‘22 and wasn’t to be denied, scoring in the corner despite the attention of five or six defenders whom he dragged over the line with him. Jack Hennessy added the conversion.
Then just on the 50 minutes Enniscorthy had a wonderful passing movement and Connell Kelly scored in the corner, only for the referee to call a forward pass as the game finished 29-7.
Enniscorthy: Jack Kavanagh (Jason Sheridan), Joe Doyle (Connell Kelly), Jack Hennessy, Rhyan Whelan (Tomás Guiney), Luke Wheelock, Seán Guiney, Tommy Cahill (Adam Power), Eoin Sheridan-Pope, Rory Lynch, Cody Denton (Lee Quigley), Pádraig Waters (Dylan Butler), Dylan Purcell (Cillian Hanrahan), Jack Whelan, Paul Byrne (Cian Dobbs-Doyle).
Enniscorthy 12, Wexford Wanderers 10: This Leinster Under-17 Cup semi-final in New Ross on Friday was a very tight match between two evenly-balanced teams, and although scores were at a premium it did not take away from the skill factor as both teams tried to break the deadlock.
The breakthrough did come just as the half-time whistle loomed when Temi Lasisi picked from the back of a ruck to score in the corner. Ben Kidd hit the post with the conversion attempt.
Wanderers made an excellent start to the second-half and had two tries on the board after just ten minutes.
However, the conversions were missed which was later to prove costly.
Enniscorthy did respond and had a lot of possession but at crucial times spilled the ball with the line in sight.
With five minutes remaining they had a scrum on the Wexford five-metre line. Temi Lasisi picked and put out-half Ben Kidd in for the try to level the game.
Kidd added the vital conversion to seal the win but not before Wexford knocked on the ball with the line in sight.
It was a very close game that could have gone either way, but the ’Scorthy boys got the rub of the green.
They will now play either Navan or Naas in the final in Donnybrook on May 7.
Team: Tom Manning, Jack Saunders, Temi Lasisi, Jack Freeman, Shane Lynch, David Farrell, Conor Blyth, Michael Kinsella, Conn Maher, Ben Kidd, Dominik Morycki, Mikey Nolan, Conor Byrne, Miguel Byrne, Conn Kavanagh-Morris. Subs. used: Tadhg Maher, Gavin Redmond.