14 man Enniskillen record home victory over Lisburn
A bleak, wet and windy day welcomed Lisburn to Mullaghmeen on Saturday last, for what turned out to be a great display from the Enniskillen men.
Kane Holden and John Maguire were both given starts and certainly both deserved their call up to the 1st XV.
Enniskillen began the first half with the strong wind to their back, playing towards the road, and they pinned Lisburn back from well-positioned kicks from Richard Corner and Chris McVitty on a number of occasions and took an early lead. After sustained pressure in the visitors “22” an infringement for the tackler not rolling away gave ‘Skins ‘ the opportunity and outhalf McVitty stepped up and slotted the kick through the posts for a 3 – 0 start to the home side.
Just after the restart Enniskillen suffered a blow when Donagh O’Callaghan had to leave the field with a suspected broken jaw, leaving Enniskillen reduced to 14 men with only 10 minutes gone. Everyone at the club wishes Donagh a speedy recovery.
McVitty controlled the game and used the conditions to his advantage, keeping Lisburn back in their half, but both teams found it difficult to play any flowing rugby, with a number of passes not going to hand, and the game becoming a very stop-start affair.
The first half saw Enniskillen dominate in the scrum and lineout but found it difficult to stop Lisburn’s big no.8 in the loose. Crucially, the next score of the half came from Enniskillen when McVitty slotted over another penalty to make it 6 – 0 to ‘Skins at half time.
The second half saw Enniskillen extend their lead by another two penalties and a drop goal from McVitty after sustained pressure, as each time Enniskillen entered the visitors half they came out with points on the board. 15 – 0 Enniskillen.
Enniskillen looked to be cruising to the victory, but after some handbags were thrown during a break in play, Jack Harte, who had an outstanding game, along with Lisburn’s No.8 both received yellow cards. Still with a man advantage the visitors then scored with only five minutes left to reduce the arrears and perhaps create a nervy finish with the score at 15 – 5.
However, ‘Skins were not quite done and with just 13 men they recycled the ball after a scrum and a well-timed pass from Gavin Parke put Felix Quigley through a gap to score a well worked try. McVitty added the extras to leave the final score 22 – 5 to Enniskillen.
Despite the conditions, and playing with only 14 men for a large majority of the game, Enniskillen still managed to play exciting and flowing rugby at times. A great team performance in difficult conditions, with a special mention to Kane Holden who had an exceptional game in the loose and in defence.
