Blow for Wanderers in quest for rugby promotion

CILL DARA WANDERERS 13 9

THE WEXFORD Wanderers first XV travelled to Kildare on Sunday to face local side Cill Dara in a vital second versus third clash in the hunt for the Leinster League Division 2A title.

Wanderers came into the game in third place, one point behind joint leaders Cill Dara and Clondalkin, and this gave the fixture an added edge with only three rounds remaining in the league.

The game started with both sides keen from the off, perhaps a little too keen as tempers boiled over after 15 minutes, resulting in a player from each side ending up in the sin-bin.

From the resulting penalty, winger Waters converted it to give Wanderers the lead. Both sides battled to try to shake off the other, but the breaks just wouldn’t come for either.

It took another 15 minutes before there was a second score which again came from the boot of Waters.

Five minutes before the interval Cill Dara scored a penalty before Waters increased Wanderers’ lead on the interval to 9-3, again from the boot.

In the second period Cill Dara started to rebuild their phases steadily and, despite excellent defending from Wanderers, they finally got the important converted try in the 62nd minute to take a one-point lead.

Wanderers continued to push for scores but unfortunately these fizzled out or were broken up by some bizarre decisions by the man in the middle.

Seven minutes after they got their try, Cill Dara scored a penalty from the halfway line, helped in no small part by the strong, chilling wind.

This pushed their lead to four, meaning Wanderers had to hunt for a try rather than a penalty to take the game and the points on offer.

However, Cill Dara’s cuteness meant that they were able to successfully play down the clock to the final whistle.

The final score was 13-9, a disappointing loss which, despite the losing bonus point, leaves Wanderers four points behind still joint leaders Clondalkin and Cill Dara.

Mathematically the title race is not over, however Wanderers need both joint leaders to experience a dip in form and to lose points in the last two rounds to effectively re-open theirchallenge.

For the league newcomers, the performances so far this season have most definitely announced their arrival.

Next weekend the firsts have a brief respite as the second XV take centre stage in the cup, before they will lock horns with Dundalk the following weekend in the north-east in the second round of the Bank of Ireland Provincial Towns Cup.

Wexford: Seán Redmond, Graham Grant, Bobby Clancy, Darragh Kehoe (capt.), John Turner, Tom Brennan, Luke Roche, Carthaigh Geoghegan, Stewart Ryan, Calum Murphy, Corey Carty, Seán O Corcora, Richie Waters, Eoin Roche. Subs. - Kevin Redmond, Kyle Roche, Cillian McConville, Colm O Corcora, Liam Barry.