Saturday 15/10/16
Enniskillen 1st XV 18
Instonians 1st XV 7
Following their first defeat in the league away to Dromore the previous week Enniskillen 1st XV had a historic reprisal on Saturday as they claimed an 18-7 victory at Mullaghmeen over league favourites and former AIL stalwarts Instonians.
The conditions were calm and dry despite a precursor of heavy rain which still left the terrain slightly damp, but all in all it was still an expansive and entertaining display as well as a wholly physical confrontation between the two forward packs.
The Enniskillen side were clearly primed for the encounter as they looked the more aggressive of the two sides from the restart, also looking determined to stifle any possession gained by the Belfast side. Skins made good ground from the kickoff after a high tackle, following a great take from David Buchanan, yielded a penalty. Skins showed excellent decision making now for the next 40 minutes as they pinned the visitors hopelessly in their own half. The Instonians line out was expertly disrupted by Carleton and Holden, leaving them starved of possession and unable to clear their lines. A penalty soon came at the breakdown just inside the Inst 22 metre line allowing John Maguire at out half to draw first blood with a kick for goal to go 3-0 up.
Admittedly Instonians did well to defend the Enniskillen back line and were quick up in defence which left limited opportunities for wingers Balmer and Baloucoune, who looked dangerous in space. The greasy surface made for a fair few handling errors and plentiful scrums to the delight of the Enniskillen pack. A scrum in the Instonians half looked to have been driven back 20 metres by the pack with the Beatty boys and Cathcart at the fore; credit going to the visiting forwards who didn’t opt for the escape route of collapse. Instonians, however, continued to get penalised for petty breakdown errors as they tried to deal with the constantly encroaching Enniskillen attack and soon Maguire added to his tally with a well placed kick just inside the half to go 6-0 up.
The visitors managed to hold the scoreline for the remainder of the half and did well to defend the Skins maul and carries from Johnston and Lee, as well as some good running lines from O’Shea and Finlay in the back line. There was still no real gain in territory for Instonians as Enniskillen continued to dominate the set piece, with Welsh also slotting ably into prop intermittently, this combined with continued penalties from Instonians left them with no long term possession throughout the first half.
In the driving seat at the start of the second half Skins continued to control the game patiently and used an early penalty to kick to the corner and look to set up a maul. A fumble at the resultant line out led to a Skins attacking scrum which gave the backs some good front foot ball to draw in the defence. Then a run from Carleton off the ruck against the grain from the 5 metre line caught the defence unaware and he extended his ample reach to touch down for a try, unconverted to go 11-0 up.
Instonians responded well to the Enniskillen try and finally got some ball in hand, their number eight made some charging runs that required a dedicated defensive effort from the home side. Some huge hits came from Carleton and Johnston as they tried to kill the opposition momentum and James Ferguson shepherded the opposing back line well. A failed turnover attempt at the breakdown eventually gave the visitors a penalty attempt; the resultant kick fortuitously bounced off the uprights and Skins calmly cleared their lines. Instonians soon went down to 14 men after repeated breakdown infringements in response to the Enniskillen attack but the momentum stayed with the visitors as they continued to exhibit an improved attacking performance. Following a period of pressure on the Skins 5 metre line Instonians exploited an overlap out wide and crossed the line for a converted try to bring the scoreline to a mere 11-7.
When many may have feared a turn around at this crucial stage, Enniskillen’s response showed a level of psychological prowess lacking from the side in recent years during similar circumstances. Aggressive off the restart Skins were awarded a penalty which they duly kicked to touch and set up a cleanly won line out and maul just outside the opposition 5 metre line; the well formed maul rolled relentlessly over the try line with Richie Beatty taking the honours at the back, converted by Maguire to go 18-7 up with a few minutes to go and the outcome confirmed.
It was a memorable win for the home side against such a well established side but more importantly a very well deserved and clinical victory that featured a passionate defensive display and excellent bit of game management to grind out the desired result. Enniskillen face another tough test this Saturday as they host fellow Q2 promotees Carrickfergus, a side who have also proved more than able for their new standing in Q1 and who have provided some entertaining fixtures in the past for the Mullaghmeen men.
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Saturday 15/10/16
Lurgan 2nd XV 7
Enniskillen 2nd XV 47
Enniskillen travelled to Lurgan on Saturday for the first round of the Forster Cup and went into the fixture in high spirits following back to back wins in the league. Their hosts for the afternoon also entered the contest in fine form having only tasted defeat once this season, ironically by the same team that defeated Skins in the final of the competition six months ago. When the game kicked off Skins showed clear intent with strong forward runners breaking the gain line and taking the game deep within the Lurgan half.
Unfortunately for Skins their late arrival, and only taking to the field 10 minutes before kickoff, meant errors ensued and they were unable to capitalise on their early dominance. Despite the errors, defensive organisation and aggression meant Lurgan were unable to clear their lines and Skins eventually opened the scoring after 15 minutes.
A scrum within the Lurgan 22’ was moved out to Lendrum and a simple pass to Law running a lovely line back inside allowed him to hit a gap between the opposition 10 and 12 to dot down for a score under the posts, which Lendrum duly converted.
Skins immediately returned to the Lurgan half and after a few minutes scored another try which was almost a carbon copy of the first as Law claimed his second of the day, and Lendrum once again converted for a 14-0 lead. This second score seemed to spark the Lurgan side into action as they came out more determined and competing for every ball at the break down. Poor discipline from skins at the breakdown and a few high tackles gave Lurgan 4 or 5 penalties in quick succession which allowed them to progress deep into Skins territory for the first time, unfortunately for Lurgan at this point their outside centre was forced to leave the field, seemingly feeling the effects of an earlier head collision.
With Lurgan down to 14 for the remainder, an element of complacency seemed to set in for Skins and this allowed the Lurgan 12 to canter in from close range for a try under the posts which was then converted to bring the score back to a narrow lead of 14-7.
Lurgan seemed buoyed by this score and despite being down to 14 men started to retain the ball better and string a few phases together, a smart kick by their 10 at the end of the half once again brought play deep within the Skins 22’.
The referee declared the lineout would be the last play of the half, which was all that was required as Elliott claimed the ball from the throw and immediately broke up the field as the Lurgan pack were caught sleeping, seemingly expecting the ball would be kicked out to end the half. Good support and handling brought play within the Lurgan 22’ and eventually led to McGarry going in under the posts, Lendrum again converted and the half ended 21-7.
That late score seemed to kill off any belief in the Lurgan side and they never managed to get out of their half once the game restarted. Skins ran in four more scores in a much improved and dominant display. Law first sealed his hat-trick bulldozing over the line, Henry touched down in the corner, then Ricky Connor and Lendrum dummied their way through the opposition defence to register a score, with Lendrum converting 3 of the tries. With 15 minutes remaining Lurgan decided they had played enough and the decision was taken to end the contest. It was a largely pleasing display from Skins and they now have a week off to regroup for the trip to Academy at the end of the month. We also wish speedy recoveries to Stuart Bradshaw who suffered cracked ribs and the birthday boy on the day Eric Elliott who had to leave the field after suffering damage to his little finger.
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Sunday 16/10/16
Enniskillen Ladies 5
Cavan Ladies 5
Skins played their third game of the season at home to Cavan last weekend on a wet and windy Sunday afternoon that both teams found challenging, with numerous handling errors disrupting the run of play. It was a physical encounter between the two forward packs with Enniskillen showing marked improvement at the set piece, starting well and holding their own against a strong, experienced Cavan pack in the scrum, at one point even winning the ball against the head; line outs too were much improved despite the conditions. The majority of play was restricted mostly within the respective 22’s, with both teams struggling to break the defensive line. Leanne hall, the coach’s player of the match, distributed well at the back of rucks despite the lack of clean ball.
Sarah Armstrong made her mark on her debut at openside flanker, catching clean ball in the line outs and crashing up a number of good forward carries. Etna Flanagan proved to be a constant thorn in Cavan’s defence, exhibiting her typically wicked step and shrugging off tackles, gaining crucial ground when Enniskillen were pinned in their own 22.
The first half was blown up much to the relief of both teams after a scrappy 40 minutes consisting mostly of a short range forwards battle and handling errors stifling any attempts at expansive play.
The second half produced a bit more creative play from both teams. Cavan worked the ball well out to the wing but, once again, good defensive play saw Skins bundling them into touch. With Cavan upping their game and making ground into the Enniskillen half, the introduction into the back line of Raquel Gonzales provided the Cavan girls a severe Spanish welcome with a huge crunching tackle stopping the Cavan momentum dead, leaving Skins on the front foot after a period of attack from the visitors in the Skins 22. The home side, however, failed to turn over Cavan possession to implement an exit strategy and the pressure eventually wrought rewards as good hands saw quick ball shipped out to the wing for a well deserved try, unconverted to leave the visitors 5-0 up.
With 10 minutes left on the clock, the Skins girls knew it was now or never. Awesome composure and intensity from the entire team paid off to regain possession; a hard press from the restart and tenacious tackling from number eight Leona Connelly forced a Cavan knock on for a Skins put in at the scrum on the opposition 22. An excellent period of attacking pressure and solid carries from Ashling Maguire and Sarah Teague rewarded the home side with another scrum, this time only 5 metres from the try line. A tight scrum gave crucial clean ball for the backs who showed great awareness to create an overlap and exploit the blindside, with simple hands putting Rebecca Pennell over the line to bring the home side level with only minutes on the clock. The difficult conversion fell just short to leave a fairly justified end to the fixture at 5-5.
Enniskillen Ladies would like to thank their coaches James and Rodney for their continued time, effort and expertise. Training continues at 6.30pm Tuesday & Thursday as the ladies look to this Sunday’s game away to Malone, new players always welcome. Find Us On Facebook @EnniskillenLadiesRugby.
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Saturday 15/10/16
Enniskillen U18’s 43
Dungannon U18’s 12
On a cold, wet blustery Saturday morning Enniskillen RFC welcomed Dungannon’s Youth teams to their Club, with the weather conditions poor it wasn’t going to be a day for fast flowing, expansive Rugby.
The U18’s kicked off and after only 5 minutes Dungannon ran in an unconverted try to put the first points on the board. This seemed to kick start the young Skins side and they started to go through several phases of play with good ball retention and kept recycling the ball through second row Aaron Kelly and Owen Mcgovern who had outstanding games. They got their just rewards when the Skins forwards had pushed up to Dungannon’s 5 metre line where No8 Jamie Kelly got quick ball and powered over the line with a couple of defenders holding on to score an unconverted try, leaving the score 5 all.
On the 20th minute the Skins won a scrum on the halfway line, and from a well worked back’s move centre Tyler Millar cut open Dungannon’s defence and scored a converted try to leave the score 12-5 to Skins. Then 3 minutes later the inform out-half Jarlath Maguire scored a further unconverted try after another back’s move from a scrum to leave the score 17-5 to Skins.
For the next 10 minutes Dungannon started to move the ball and came close to scoring only to be denied by the tenacious tackling of fullback Michael O’Hare. Skins’ defence was finally broken on the 32nd minute when Dungannon broke the defensive line for a converted try.
However, Dungannon’s joy was short lived, and after the restart winger Aidan McKenna chased down the kick and put pressure on his opposite number to win a scrum for the young Skins, from there the home side went through several phases of play before scrum half Josh Kyle drew 2 defenders and off loaded to centre Tyler Millar to power over the line and score a converted try to leave the halftime score 24-12 to Skins.
Dungannon kicked off the second half and for 15 minutes the game was played in the Skins half with good pressure from Dungannon but they failed to break down the Skins defence and after great work by flanker Eoin Cleary at the breakdown, Skins put the ball through the hands and Millar once again ran in a Converted try to leave Skins 31-12 to the good. On the 65th minute out-half Jarlath Maguire kicked and chased a ball from Dungannon’s 22’ and scored his 2nd try of the day to leave the score 36-12. Dungannon kept fighting to the end and pushed Enniskillen back to their 5 metre line but again couldn’t get hrough the determined Skins defence and, after a knock on by Dungannon, Skins won a Scrum on their own 5 metre line. The resultant scrum had quick ball going to Millar yet again who broke through 4 tackles and ran the full length of the pitch to score his 4th try of the game to leave the final score 43-12 to Skins.
It’s been a solid start to the season for the Under-18s who now travel to Virginia this weekend.
