Enniskillen weathered an early storm but despite one or two missed tackles the defence held firm and repelled attack after attack before taking the lead after fifteen minutes when James McIntyre slotted over a penalty.
The referee helped the Roesiders to take the lead when he harshly showed Johnny Wright a yellow card five minutes later. From the penalty the home side elected for the lineout and scored an unconverted try through the forwards to lead 5 – 3.
Worse was to follow when the restart was badly defended allowing Limavady to apply pressure in the attacking third and eventually score a second unconverted try in almost the same spot, to stretch their lead to 10 – 3.
‘Skins replied well and on the half hour McIntyre reduced the lead with his second penalty, before they took the lead with the final play of the first half. Good continuity and support work saw ‘Skins take the ball to the shadow of the posts where scrum half Ricky Connor, sneaked through to spot the ball under the bar, with the easy conversion giving the visitors a 13 – 10 halftime lead.
Limavady came out of the blocks much as they had in the first half and following a number of offside decisions Gavin Parke was the second ‘Skins player to see yellow with only five minutes played. The team effort however was superb and saw them last the ten minutes without conceding points. However Limavady soon levelled things up just short of the half hour mark. ‘Skins had been attacking and looking comfortable in possession, but a charged down chip gifted Limavady the ball and territory with the equalising penalty following.
‘Skins were unfortunate not to put more points on the board when a jinking run from fullback Mark O’Shea won much needed yardage before he was apparently blocked chasing his chip kick through, only to be frustrated when the referee gave a penalty against the ‘Skins man.
O’Shea was to feature prominently in the next score, but in a defensive role. His try saving tackling on ‘Skins left wing only delayed the try that came after quick recycled ball fell to the hands of the hosts’ left wing, who showed blistering pace to round the defence and score in the corner. This time the Limavady kicker found his range to stretch the lead out to 20 – 13 with eight minutes remaining.
‘Skins stuck to the gameplan and again posed questions for the Roesiders’ defence, many which they were able to answer. There was one ugly incident to follow when O’Shea, once more in the thick of things was felled by a punch to the cheekbone in a midfield fracas. However the referee didn’t see the incident and when he re-started play there was much confusion over the method and ‘Skins conceded a lineout on their own “22”. From this Limavady were awarded the most dubious penalty of all with one of their own clearly lying on the wrong side, and this allowed the hosts to stretch their lead to 23 – 13, going into the last two minutes.
‘Skins had dominated the scrummage all day long and in two late scrums stole the hosts’ ball but could not make a breakthrough for what have been a much deserved try, and Limavady held out for a somewhat flattering ten-point win.
‘Skins now return to league action with their first home league game of the season this Saturday against Belfast High School FP. The patched up side on Saturday showed six player changes and one other positional change from their Conference win over Ballynahinch two weeks ago, and a further two from the loss at UUC last week, but this was a much better performance than that witnessed at Coleraine, and ‘Skins will go into the High School game in good spirits.
Fixtures:
1st XV – Home – Belfast High School FP
2nd XV – Home – Instonians III
3rd XV – Home – Carrick III
Under-19 – Away – Virginia
Youth – Virginia – Home
Mini – Home – Monaghan
