Derby tie secured
Wanderers to meet Enniscorthy next
Early in the second period the dependable Waters extended the lead with a long-range penalty from the right.
Just minutes later, after a sloppy clearance, Waters made a brilliant solo run from Wanderers’ ’22 and scored in the corner to give Wexford a 22-5 lead with half an hour remaining.
Dundalk, however, kept the pressure on and pulled a try back with 20 minutes left.
At this stage Wanderers were under intense pressure and winger Tom Barry had to leave the field with a broken nose to be replaced by Richards, while Birney came on for the flawless Ryan.
For the remainder of the game Dundalk kept Wanderers pinned back in their ’22 and were rewarded on the full-time whistle with another unconverted try to narrow the final score to 22-15.
It was a memorable win for Wanderers against a highly-rated visiting side.
The result means that Wanderers now have a derby tie in the next round as they travel to neighbours Enniscorthy, who put 61 points without reply on Clane.
The fixture is scheduled at this stage for Saturday, February 23, in Enniscorthy due to the international fixture on the Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Wanderers first XV have to return the trip to Dundalk next Sunday, February 10, in the second round of the Provincial Towns Cup when the most south-easterly side in the province again faces the most north-easterly side.
Without doubt, after Sunday’s loss, the Louthmen will hope to exact some retribution on Wanderers in what should be another epic encounter.
Wexford: Ross O’Callaghan, Barry Ryan, Chris Vickery, Zygimantas Sniezka, Ciarán Byrne, Vincent Carroll, Cillian McConville (capt.), Kevin Redmond, Mark Power, Paul Gannon, Cormac Burke, Ciarán Joyce, Richie Waters, Tom Barry, John Gannon. Subs. - Noel Richards, Pat Toomey, James Byrne, Seán Stafford, Kevin Birney. ENNISCORTHY TRAVELLED to Navan for a crucial Premier League Under-16 fixture.
Both teams started the game very well, with some excellent carries from Navan. After a series of scrums in the Navan ’22, the Enniscorthy captain, Aaron Doyle, broke from the back of a scrum and cut down the blind side to score in the corner.
Enniscorthy started to increase the pace of the match, with James Doyle and Conal Kervick making long breaks.
After some excellent carries from the hard-working number 8 Ore Lassisi, Aaron Doyle again scored under the posts and Conal Kervick at 10 duly converted to make it 12-0 after 18 minutes.
Navan responded from the kickoff with some excellent line speed, and they took a quick penalty and scored in the corner.
The hard-tackling Enniscorthy number 2, Conor Murphy, went off injured and was ably replaced by Ryan Collier. Shortly afterwards David Bolger took a knock after a good carry and was replaced by the speedy Gerard Kennedy.
Josh Kinsella was excellent at break downs, and the Enniscorthy half-backs were starting to control the game, with Seán Kelly and Conal Kervick combining well.
On the stroke of half-time, Enniscorthy scored a critical try by Cillian Doyle which was converted to leave it 19-5 at the break.
Shortly after the re-start, with great pressure from Ronan Kervick at inside centre, Navan gave away a penalty and Conal Kervick got a long-range kick to make it 22-5.
Navan had to kick out of defence after their forwards started to tire. Barry Hassey at 15 and the two wings of Cillian Doyle and the introduced Stefen San Augustin started to counter-attack and opened up the pitch.
Evan Jacob made an excellent break down the right wing and was unlucky not to score. An excellent break from half way followed from Conal Kervick, who scored and converted his own try to make it 27-5.
The Enniscorthy front row of Wayne Sutton, Ryan Collier and Evan O’Connor took two scrums against the head which sustained the pressure on Navan.
Shawn Leacy was introduced and the change was seamless. Chris O’Leary led the counter rucking and forced mistakes.
As Navan tired, Enniscorthy decided to kept the ball in hand and scored three tries in the last ten minutes through Cillian Doyle, Ronan Kervick and the last one from the excellent outside centre James Doyle.