WICKLOW RUN RIOT
Super showing earns shot at North Kildare or Dundalk
WICKLOW RFC MULLINGAR RFC 53 0
TWO years on from winning their first ever Provincial Towns Cup, Wicklow RFC opened their assault on the 2018 cup with a facile win over Mullingar RFC.
Eye-catching performances from scrum half Billy Ngawini and outside centre Ben Porter, a twotry cameo from substitute Simon Breen and a dominant pack were all the necessary ingredients for Wicklow to win easily.
Afterwards, Mick Higgins was happy with the win and delighted that his team got through the game without injury, before adding how impressed he was with the attitude of his players.
“The main thing was the attitude at the start. There have been a few occasions this year when we haven’t been right but today we were right, and it would have taken a really good team to beat us. If we keep going out with that attitude we can put it up to anybody.”
That attitude at the start yielded two tries within the opening ten minutes, first Wes Wojnar and then Eoin O’Sullivan dotting the ball down following some brute force from their forward colleagues.
Mullingar’s handling was really poor in the first quarter and they gifted possession to Wicklow more than once. Ben Armstrong made the most of one such mistake, sprinting into the Mullingar 22 with his path towards the line only stopped by full back Donal Liddy who conceded a penalty at the breakdown.
Wicklow went for the corner rather than the posts and almost got over the line following a series of pick and goes, last ditch Mullingar defending holding the ball up on the line. Wicklow had a 5-metre scrum and pushed their way over, number 8 Wojnar doing the honours.
Four minutes later O’Sullivan had the second. Twice in the first half Mullingar went down the short side and twice Wicklow won a penalty for the tackled player holding on, great defensive pressure giving them no alternative.
From the first penalty Stephen Duffy gave Wicklow field position on the Mullingar 22 and his pack mauled their way over the line, O’Sullivan the lucky man with the ball.
It was indicative of the entire game, Wicklow were utterly dominant at the set-piece. Mullingar’s only saving grace was in the second half when they’re hooker went off injured and the scrums were uncontested.
Wicklow only scored another three points in the first half, Brian Keegan with a penalty after Ben Porter was tackled high, as the game lost some intensity. Wicklow had a few chances they couldn’t take while Mullingar’s couple of forays into the opposition 22 yielded a wayward lineout and a ball lost in contact.
Wicklow had a chat with themselves at half time and had another two tries on the board within seven minutes of the restart.
Billy Ngawini made a beautiful 30-metre break in midfield and a couple of phases later George Naoupu barrelled his way over the line. The second try, and fourth in total, was another mauled effort, this time Jack McKenna dived over.
Ten minutes later tries five and six were scored. Speedster Simon Breen replaced wing Dean Leonard and did his hopes of starting no harm, burning past a few Mullingar players before beating the last man to dot the ball down. Keegan nailed the tough conversion.
Moments later Breen produced the same trick, only this time he passed to Ben Porter who ran in under the posts. There was a hint of a forward pass but nobody could begrudge Porter a well-deserved try.
Porter returned the favour for the seventh, brushing past a couple of really poor tackles and off loading to Breen who dived in at the corner.
If anyone had thought of leaving Ashtown Lane early Wicklow eighth and final try was the pièce de résistance. Captain John Jenkinson picked up the ball on his own 22 and it took three Mullingar players to bring him down on the half way line.
Scrum half Billy Ngawini spotted an opportunity and acting as first receiver he raced through the yawning gap between a Mullingar lock and prop. His dummy to beat the last defender was a thing of beauty.
Wicklow move on to the second round and they will face the winners of Dundalk or North Kildare on February 11th, their first-round match fell foul to the adverse weather.
Scorers – Wicklow RFC: Simon Breen 2 tries; Jack McKenna, George Naoupu, Eoin O’Sullivan, Wes Wojnar, Billy Ngawini, Ben Porter 1 try each; Brian Keegan 1 pen, 5 conversions.
Wicklow RFC: Stephen Duffy; Ben Armstrong, Ben Porter, Shane Farrar, Dean Leonard; Brian Keegan, Billy Ngawini; Eanna Killeen, Jack McKenna, Neil Dickenson; George Naoupu, John Jenkinson; Liam Gaffney, Eoin O’Sullivan, Wes Wojnar. Reps: Stephen Swan, John Hopkins, Alex Porter, Mark Cullen, Simon Breen, Jason Byrne.
Mullingar RFC: Donal Liddy; Owen Moore, Alex Mitic, Eoghan Gantly, Robbie Cooney; Alan Brabazon, Stuart Flynn; Jonny Moran, Darren Brady, Ben Glennon; Alex Moran, Daryll Quinn; Darach Gerathy, Paul Maxwell, Nigel Mills. Reps: Cillian Kavanagh, Jamie Taffe, Ed Nally, Joe Moran, Eoin Kelly.