Tullow tame thirds in cup

THE WEXFORD Wanderers third XV hosted Tullow at Park Lane on Sunday in the first instalment of a unique cup double-header.

The thirds in the opening round of the Anderson Cup were the rallying call before the main event which was the meeting with Tullow in the quarter-final of the Provincial Towns Seconds Cup.

The success of the Wanderers second XV this season provided the club with the nucleus of a team to enter a third cup competition, and Wanderers decided to compete in the Anderson Cup to continue the ongoing progression of the club and to complete a unique entry into all top three cup competitions in the province.

Wanderers’ third XV’s first outing as a combined side was in mid-February when they hosted Arklow at Park Lane. Since then interest in the side has grown to the point where a full side was available for selection on the weekend, blending a mixture of youthful speed and wily maturity.

The game started with both sides evenly matched and an early penalty attempt from Hore slipped narrowly wide of the upright after a promising period of play. Tullow, however, slipped through the Wanderers back line and scored in the corner to open up an early lead.

A second unconverted Tullow try was followed by a third to give them a commanding lead heading for the interval, despite Wanderers having missed further penalty attempts.

At the end of the period some sloppy play from Tullow afforded Hyland the opportunity to get some points on the board which he duly did to cut the deficit to 15-3 at the break.

In the second period Wanderers introduced fresh legs but, with the buffer of the half-time lead, Tullow started to cut loose and increase the scoreline steadily as the game went on.

Despite digging deep and playing well right across the park, Wanderers simply could not get a lucky break which could have yielded a score and brought some respite to the game. The final score was 3-43 to the visitors.

However, Wanderers will go on and at this stage they are entered immediately into the Dunne Cup alongside the other sides who lost Anderson Cup ties on Sunday. Wanderers will take huge positivity from the performance of the scrum, especially the numbers of strikes won against the head by the clever hooking of Smythe as well as the general play at times which will improve as the Dunne Cup campaign kicks off in earnest.

Details of the fixtures in the Dunne Cup will be announced during the coming week, and for details of this and other upcoming events supporters are asked to keep an eye on the club social media outlets on Facebook and Twitter.

Finally, as Easter approaches club supporters and volunteers are reminded of the annual Good Friday spring clean at the club this coming Friday. It is especially important this year as the annual Casey Cup will be returning to Wexford this year, and everyone is invited to come along on Friday to help out and have a bit of craic at the club on one of the most enjoyable social days of the season.

Wexford: Dermot Graham, Aaron Smythe, Steve Roche, Des Doyle (capt.), Kean Kehoe, Dave Kelliher, Cillian McConville, Mossie Earle, Stevie Holloway, John Gannon, Chris Walsh, Tom Barry, Tony Boggan, Ger Lynch, Craig Hore. Subs. - Reece Moore, Dan Murphy, Chris Hurley, John Hyland, Aidan Harrington.