Wanderers seal first part of derby double
THE WEXFORD Wanderers second XV hosted New Ross at Park Lane on Sunday in a day of historic fixtures between the clubs, with the two clubs’ ladies’ sides also facing off at the same time as the seconds in a curtain-raiser to the men’s first XV game in League Division 2A.
Wanderers scored almost immediately from the start, with centre Tom Barry breaking through the Ross midfield to touch down in the corner for an unconverted try.
Next up on the ten-minute mark, second row Niall Hearne scored under the posts to afford winger Cardiff the easiest of conversions despite the howling wind which was a feature of all games during the day.
Five minutes later, number 8 Carthaigh Geoghegan scored the third try in the corner following some excellent phase play.
Just before the half hour, winger Owen Cardiff scored following a break by playmaker Paul Gannon who marshalled the Wanderers backs excellently throughout.
On the stroke of half-time, Cardiff got his second after cleverly kicking past his opposite number and collecting before scoring in the corner in a move similar to something counjured up by Jacob Stockdale. The score at the interval was 27-0.
In the second period Ross continued to push for a score and, with Wexford pressing their lines, they very nearly did.
The Ross centre intercepted a loose Wanderers pass and sprinted away for the Wexford line with players in his wake, but luckily for Wanderers young Vinny Carroll’s never-say-die attitude saw him chase down the breakaway and put in the score-saving tackle after covering almost the length of the pitch.
The next score saw Geoghegan getting his second under the posts to allow Cardiff an easy conversion, before replacement winger Barry O’Gorman got the final score of the contest following some excellent handling. The final score was 41-0 to Wanderers.
The result sees Wanderers remain in second place, seven points behind league pace-setters Clondalkin and four points ahead of third-placed Railway Union. New Ross are further back at sixth overall.
The next league action sees Wanderers travelling to Cill Dara on January 27 in a must-win fixture for both the J1 and J2 sides.
With Wanderers’ first XV lying one point behind joint leaders Clondalkin and Cill Dara, it will be a significant clash, while the Wanderers second XV will hope to keep pressure on Clondalkin. Meanwhile, New Ross will host a hungry but beatable Portlaoise side on the same day.
Next Sunday the attention of the first XV of both clubs turns to the opening round of the Provincial Towns Cup, with Wexford Wanderers hosting Roscrea at Park Lane and New Ross hosting Boyne at Allianz Park. Kick-off for both games is 2.30 p.m.
On paper it would appear that Wanderers have a more favourable draw against the Division 2B mid-table Roscrea who they put to the sword by nine tries last season in the march to the Division 2B title.
New Ross face Division 1A side Boyne who are at the bottom of the table.
However, Cup rugby is all or nothing for 80 minutes and come 5 p.m. on Sunday there are sure to be some surprises across the province.
Wexford: David Avtin, Kevin Redmond, Gavin Kelly, Ciarán Byrne, Niall Hearne, Vincent Carroll, Cillian McConville (capt.), Carthaigh Geoghegan, Kevin Brendan Roche, Paul Gannon, Cormac Burke, Corey Carty, Tom Barry, Owen Cardiff, John Gannon. Subs. - Chris Vickery, Noel Richards, Yohann Pinchedez, Barry O’Gorman.