Seconds score 50 points
THE WEXFORD Wanderers second XV hosted Cill Dara at Park Lane on Sunday in the latest round of the Leinster J2 Division 2A League.
Wanderers came into the game on the back of two solid wins over local rivals New Ross and a much fancied Portlaoise side, and they opened the scoring early.
Last year’s player of the season, Vinny Carroll, touched down in the corner straight from the kickoff with less than a minute on the clock.
From the re-start, centre Seán O Corcora essentially copied Carroll to score between the corner and the posts. Unfortunately, both conversions were wide but, with a lead of 10-0, Wanderers were not overly anxious about the shortfall.
It took another ten minutes for the next score to arrive and it came from a new addition to the side this season, Jack O’Leary, son of the legendary Darragh who for many years was the cornerstone in the Wanderers scrum.
It’s good to see the baton handed on to the next generation, with young Jack scoring under the posts to allow Shea Boggan the easiest of conversions.
Cill Dara were struggling at this stage and, from a poor re-start, Boggan evaded the visitors’ defence to score under the posts and add another seven points.
Cill Dara, however, rallied and scored under the posts after exposing weaknesses in the Wexford defensive line. Both sides settled into a grinding battle for the next 15 minutes before Boggan again out-ran the visitors to score under the posts for his second.
Eight minutes later Carroll added his second to give Wanderers a 38-7 lead at the interval.
In the second period Wanderers carried out a number of changes with a view to giving players game-time and with an eye to resting some players for the trip to Mullingar next Sunday.
After ten minutes, man of the match Boggan completed his hattrick when he evaded the entire Cill Dara back line to score under the posts to extend the lead.
At this stage Wanderers took their foot off the gas and Cill Dara managed to get back in the game with a try in the corner. Five minutes later they scored a second try to reduce Wanderers’ lead.
However, Wexford continued to push and were rewarded with a penalty try with ten minutes left. The final score was 50-17 to Wanderers, a result much deserved due to the commitment of the players and their perseverance throughout.
The result moves Wanderers to third in the table behind Clondalkin and Railway Union, the only sides to inflict defeat on the team to date. Next up for Wanderers is a trip to bottom of the table Mullingar next Sunday, the first long distance trip since the start of the season.
Wexford: Kyle Roche, Ross O’Callaghan, Jack O’Leary, Rory O’Connor, Pat Toomey, Cillian McConville (capt.), Vincent Carroll, Kevin Redmond, John Gannon, Stuart Ryan, Rob Walsh, Shea Boggan, Seán O Corcora, Cormac Burke, Owen Cardiff. Subs. - Noel Richards, David Avtin, Jason Guerrine, Des Doyle.