Enniscorthy gain revenge on Wicklow
Home side fail to take chanes
WICKLOW RFC ENNISCORTHY 11 28
WICKLOW RFC’S first team took on old rivals Enniscorthy in the much anticipated Leinster League Division 1A clash at Ashtown Lane on Sunday.
Enniscorthy and Wicklow have had many great battles in recent years with Wicklow coming out on top in each occasion in the Towns Cup final and South East League final in 2016 and in the Towns Cup quarter-final in Enniscorthy earlier this year.
On that basis alone Enniscorthy were always going to travel to Wicklow with real hunger to get back to winning ways against their south east rivals.
The game was played in front of a large crowd, on mild dry day on a superb pitch.
A minute’s silence was held prior to kick off as a mark of respect to Wicklow past President Mervyn Morrison.
There was a strong crosswind which favoured Wicklow in the first half.
Wicklow got off to a good start with a Brian Keegan penalty after 10 minutes.
The home side, who had the better of the early exchanges, lost their player coach George Naoupu to injury after 15 minutes.
Soon afterwards they also lost Jason Byrne to injury. This twin blow upset Wicklow’s shape and Enniscorthy began to exert some pressure of their own.
Wicklow got over the Enniscorthy line after a good spell of pressure, but the referee was unsighted and John Jenkinson shout for a try was ruled out. Brian Keegan added a second penalty to make it 6–0 to Wicklow after 35 minutes.
Enniscorthy responded quickly with a try from Ivan Poole who went in under the posts after some slick work with Killian Lett. 6–7 to Enniscorthy approaching half-time.
Wicklow appeared to have scored in the corner on the stroke of half time after good work by Simon Breen but it was deemed that a foot was in touch and the half time whistle went.
Early in the second half Enniscorthy got their second try to make it 6–14. Things went from bad to worse for Wicklow when the visitors got over for their third try. The conversion from Poole made it 6–21.
Wicklow responded well and Eanna Killeen seemed to have scored but again the referee was unsighted and theEnniscorthy cleared their lines. The visitors scored their fourth converted try to put the game out of sight at 6–28.
Wicklow to their credit never let their heads dropped and battled away. They were rewarded with a fine try in the corner by replacement Dean Leonard to leave the final score at 11–28.
Wicklow were very disappointed on the day. There is no doubt a much improved Enniscorthy were good value for their win but the scoreline didn’t quite reflect the story of the game. Wicklow failed to convert a number of very good opportunities which could have put a different complexion on the scoreline. Both teams lie in a mid table position on 10 points with three teams above and three teams below them.
The Wicklow seconds went down fighting against an excellent Enniscorthy side by 17 points to 22.
Wicklow will not panic. They travel away to Dundalk next weekend whioch is always a tough trip but John Jenkinsons men will be keen to get things back on track. Kick off in Dundalk is at 3pm with the seconds at 1.30pm.
Squad: Eanna Killeen, Jack McKenna, Jason Byrne, John Jenkinson, George Naoupu, Liam Gaffney, Killian Ballesty, Eoin O’Sullivan, Dennis Higgins, Brian Keegan, Billy Ngawini, Shane Farrar, Ben Porter, Simon Breen, Stephen Duffy.
WEXFORD GREYSTONES 19 10
GREYSTONES RFC’S ladies team were beaten by Wexford wanderers by 19-10 last Sunday morning in their Metro League Division 3 encounter in Park Lane, Wexford.
Wexford grabbed the advantage with an early try to open up a seven-point advantage, but this was followed by a period where Greystones had the majority of possession and territory but could not get any points on the scoreboard.
Wexford scored a second try against the run of play late in the first half to increase their advantage to 12 at the break.
Rebounding from this setback Greystones started the second half brightly and scored an early try by Sinead Flynn.
This was followed by a second with all the hard work done again by Sinead Flynn who released the ball to put Leah O’Doherty over in the corner to close the visitors to within two points.
Greystones maintained the pressure and territory as they went in search of the winning score but were repelled by a well organised home defence.
With the clock ticking towards the 80-minute mark, Wexford broke clear to grab a late late try to put the game out of reach and deny Greystones at least a bonus point their efforts warranted.
Next Sunday, the ladies host Navan to Dr Hickey Park with a 2:00pm kick off hoping to get their season back on track.