’Scorthy power on in the Towns Cup
Ross Road men to face Tullamore in quarter-final
ENNISCORTHY advanced to the quarter-final stages of the Towns Cup with a hard-earned victory at Skerries last Sunday.
Their reward is a home draw against Tullamore on March 16. With a hour on the clock gone the sides were level at six points apiece.
Enniscorthy were playing into a strong breeze, an upset looked on.
However the Wexford men’s experience and superior fitness told as they dominated the last quarter scoring five tries in the process.
The first half was an even contest. Ennis co rt hy were playing with a strong breeze but could not break down a very determined Skerries side.
Indeed, some stout defending by the visitors in this half kept the Dublin outfit from crossing the line on a least two occasions. Enniscorthy had their moments too and should have scored but for some sloppy handling. Outhalf Ivan Poole kicked a penalty after 35 minutes and this left the score 3–0 at the interval.
Enniscorthy had to face a strong breeze in the second and a three - point advantage didn’t seem enough.
Barely two minutes into the half Skerries out half kicked a penalty to level up matters.
To be fair Enniscorthy were dominating the set pieces and in the end this laid the foundations for their victory.
Poole kicked another penalty on 55 minutes and Skerries levelled matters with a penalty kick with just 20 minutes left on the clock.
With the scrum going forward and Nick Doyle dominant in the line outs Skerries hardly touched the ball in the last quarter.
After a series of mauls near the posts Hooker Davy Murphy dived over for try which Poole converted. Three minutes later Prop Angelo Todisco barged over from another maul to stretch the lead to 12 points.
With 10 minutes to go, Number 8 Timmy Morrissey broke free from some loose play and raced 30 metres to score in the corner.
At this stage it was all Enniscorthy and wing David O’ Dwyer was at the end of a backs move to score in the right corner.
The last play of the game saw prop James Doyle charge for the line before off loading to Lock Tom Ryan who touched down under the posts.
Outhalf Jack Kelly converted to leave the final score at 35–6 for the visitors.
Manager David Wrafter said afterwards: ‘You would have to say that the final score line flattered us. For the first hour they really put it up to us. They were unbeaten this season up to today and you can see why. Our forwards won it for us and this gave the backs room particularly in the final quarter. The backs did their bit too with a Man of the Match performance from Killian Lett who was a thorn in their side all day.’
Next Saturday, Enniscorthy play Kilkenny at home the Ross Road. A win or draw here will see them crowned as Division 1A champions
TEAM: Angelo Todisco, David Murphy, Paddy Waters, Nick Doyle, Tom Ryan (Capt), Luke Cummins, Brian Bolger (Alan Jacob 2 mins) Timmy Morrissey, Arthur Dunne (Billy Wickham 2 mins), Ivan Poole, David O’ Dwyer, Killian Lett, Daniel Pim, Ivan Jacob, Richard Dunne (Jack Kelly 2 mins). Subs: A Dunne for B Wickham (55 mins), James Doyle for A Todisco (70 mins), R Dunne for J Kelly (65 mins), Brian Bolger for L Cummins (65 mins) Conal Kavanagh for D Murphy (70 mins), J Kelly for Ivan Poole (70 mins)