New Ross Standard

U-16 girls rewarded on long trip to Cavan

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VIRGINIA ENNISCORTH­Y 10 73

THE ENNISCORTH­Y Under-16 girls’ rugby team made the long trip north to Co. Cavan on Saturday for their first Leinster Premier 1 League fixture, and what a performanc­e they put in, playing magnificen­t rugby to outscore their bewildered hosts by eleven tries and nine conversion­s to two tries.

Captain and outstandin­g scrum-half Katie Whelan continued her recent great form with four touchdowns. Open side wing forward Aoife Wafer, also outstandin­g, scored three tries.

Other scorers were flying wingers Kaci O’Connor and Erin Cahill, and number 8 Miria O’Dowd who is getting better and better with every game.

The honour of being top scorer went to hard-running centre Mia Kelly who, along with a great 60m try, kicked an amazing nine conversion­s for a personal haul of 23 points.

There cannot be a better 15-year-old place kicker in the country…male or female. The two she missed hit the crossbar.

With a 54-0 half-time lead, head coach Eamon Whelan had the luxury of emptying his bench of ten girls dying for a piece of the action, and they did not disappoint by putting in a great shift against their much bigger opponents.

These ten, made up mostly of last season’s Under-14s and three playing in their first season, were outstandin­g, none more so than the diminutive Chloe McGrath who put in tackle after tackle to deny the resurgent Virginia girls time and time again.

Score of the day came when Miria O’Dowd turned over possession at a lineout inside her half.

She quickly released her back line, who in five textbook passes got the ball to the far touchline for Kaci O’Connor to scorch 50m for a fine team try.

Lauren Delaney was Rob Kearney-like at full-back, and out-half Aoife Codd was calmness personifie­d, releasing her outside backs at every opportunit­y.

Centre Ciara Boland, while not on the scoreboard, had a big hand in many of the scores. Front rowers Lucy Egan and Mikayla O’Leary, and locks Taragh Cooper and Ciara O’Leary, all contribute­d to this, their ninth win on the trot.

Next up in two weeks will be Tullamore in what promises to be an epic between two teams on top of their form.

Enniscorth­y: Laura Doyle, Aoife Codd, Katie Whelan (capt.), Erin Cahill, Ciara Boland, Lauren Delaney, Miria O’Dowd, Ciara O’Leary, Mia Kelly, Taragh Cooper, Lucy Egan, Jessica Wickham, Elaine Oladiran, Amelia Morycka, Jessica Blythe, Aoife Weafer, Kaci O’Connor, Ellen Rogan, Mikayla O’Leary, Lara Freeman, Bríd Kavanagh, Chloe McGrath, Chelsea Ajaya. WEXFORD F.C. will stage a fundraiser with a difference in the Riverside Park Hotel, Enniscorth­y, on Wednesday, November 28, starting at 8 p.m.

It’s an evening with Kevin Doyle, Billy Walsh and Stephen Hunt, three sportsmen with strong links to the county who have graced the internatio­nal stage with distinctio­n.

Soccer stars Doyle and Hunt are former Republic of Ireland internatio­nal colleagues, while boxing coach Walsh has achieved high standards of excellence both on home soil and in the U.S.A. where he currently resides and works.

The trio will be in conversati­on with Liam Spratt, and entrance on the night will be €10.

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