Wanderers in top spot
THE WEXFORD Wanderers first XV hosted Railway Union at Park Lane on Sunday in the first game of the second half of the campaign in the push for the Leinster League Division 2A title.
Wanderers came into the game in third place overall after a solid 14-7 win over second-placed Newbridge the previous weekend. Wanderers were also aware that on Friday night table-toppers Clondalkin suffered a shock 41-7 loss to bottom half of the table side Cill Dara.
Wanderers started strongly, with captain Darragh Kehoe leading from the front to score the opener which Boggan easily converted.
Next up was Bobby Clancy who continued where he left off against Newbridge with a storming try minutes later to extend the lead to twelve.
The next score came after winger Callum Murphy narrowly missed scoring, however the supporting Liam Barry finished it off with Boggan again adding the points.
At this stage Wanderers were dominant and, following a five-metre scrum, Tom Brennan emerged from the mass of bodies to claim the try, with the points following.
Just before the interval Murphy wormed his way through the Railway cover to score in the corner. The score at the interval was 31-0 with the bonus point secured.
In the second-half Wanderers again drew first blood, with Corey Carty cutting through the Railway midfield after sustained pressure from Wexford, and Boggan again obliging with the points.
Wanderers’ next score was as a result of an excellent line break from Seán O Corcora who could possibly have continued on and scored himself but selflessly off-loaded to the supporting Murphy to score his second.
For the next 15 minutes, worryingly Railway managed to find an avenue back into the contest with two unconverted tries after some direct running resulted in them finding a gap in the centre of the Wanderers defence.
Order was restored with eight minutes left when substitute Walsh scored an unconverted try in the corner, and with two minutes remaining Clancy added his second, with the conversion again going wide.
The final score of 55-10 was a significant win, with some excellent individual performances, especially by the selfless Seán O Corcora, Carty and Murphy in the backs. In the forwards, club captain Kehoe led the charge, well supported by Clancy, Turner and Stewart who put in an impressive shift throughout.
After the game the Wanderers management were delighted with the performances of both J1 and J2 teams and, with the knowledge of Clondalkin’s shock loss, a possible joint first place at the top of the league became a reality.
In fact, as Wanderers were celebrating, fourth-placed Portlaoise were securing a narrow 11-10 win over second-placed Newbridge to leave Wexford alone at the top of the table on 29 points.
The chasing pack of Portlaoise, Newbridge and Clondalkin are all three points behind on 26, with a resurgent Cill Dara on 21. The result makes next weekend’s trip to Clondalkin even more important, with a win needed to take points from the main title rivals and to perhaps end their title interest.
Wexford: Bobby Clancy, Graham Grant, Aidan Stewart, John Turner, Darragh Kehoe (capt.), Tom Brennan, Luke Roche, Cartaigh Geoghegan, Stewart Ryan, Corey Carty, Callum Murphy, Colm O Corcora, Seán O Corcora, Liam Barry, Shea Boggan. Subs. - Kevin Birney, Seán Redmond, Chris Walsh, Paul Gannon, Eoin Roche.