Wanderers win on double versus Athy

WANDERERS ATHY 23 8

THE WEXFORD Wanderers Senior men played host to two Athy teams at Park Lane on Sunday.

The firsts went into this game in third place in Leinster League Division 2B, so the battle with top of the table Athy was bound to take everything Wexford had and that’s exactly what the visiting side got.

After a scrappy start, Athy were first on the board with a penalty, putting them three points up early on. Shortly afterwards, Wexford’s Richie Waters evened the score with another kick through the uprights.

Liam Barry was first to make it over the line with a try in the corner before half-time, but Athy quickly equalised. Both conversions missed the mark, leaving both sides with eight points each.

Wexford inside centre, Corey Carthy, started the second-half with their second try. Waters stretched the lead to eight with another successful penalty kick, a lead that Wexford fought hard to maintain for what seemed like a long second 40 minutes.

In the game’s dying phases, a weary Wexford challenged the Athy defence harder than they had for the entire game. This lastditch effort paid dividends as Tom Brennan touched down a third and final try, swiftly converted by Waters. The final score was Wexford Wanderers 23, Athy 8.

The seconds also faced off earlier in the day but the victory came easier for Wexford in this meeting. A mammoth eight tries were achieved by a strong side.

Three of these were compliments of Will Morris, with one each for Patrick Twomey, Barry O’Gorman, Owen Cardiff and Chris Vickery.

The final dance across the line went to Seán Stafford on his Senior debut. Stafford had an excellent introduction to full throttle rugby by adding a massive seven conversions.

Defensively Wexford also excelled, with the visitors from Athy making just one trip across the line to end the day with a 54-5 home win.