Enniskilen 1st XV 19
Dromore 1st XV 5
Enniskillen 1st XV finally returned to winning ways in the league last Saturday as they saw off a physical Dromore side at Mullaghmeen. It was a highly competitive contest that had Skins eventually dominate due to industrious efforts from the pack to gather hard yards, intelligent counter attack and some moments of brilliance from Robert Baloucoune and James Ferguson.
The fixture was an arm wrestle at the start and Dromore carried hard at the Skins line, asking a big defensive effort from the home side. The Dromore out half tested the back three on quite a few occasions with some probing kicks but Ashley Finlay was in fine form, consistently solid under the high ball and proving a threat on every counter attack. The scrum between the usually dominant Skins and Dromore pack were fairly even but Enniskillen got the upper hand on a few occasions with Beatty at tighthead prop proving a handful. One such instance led to the first try as the ball went blind off the back of a scrum and found Robert Baloucoune, running an excellent line in and then cutting out to leave his opposite man for dead to finish under the posts, well slotted by Lendrum to go 7-0 up.
The forwards made some good ground too from open play in the first half. Holden carried well off the scrum and prop Alan Ferguson made great yards while throwing some clinical off loads.
Dromore were not a side to lie down, however, and made good inroads into the Skins half after the try. Setting up a line out just outside the Skins’ 5 metre line Dromore battered the Skins line with short range carries before eventually sneaking over for an unconverted try to leave the score 7-5.
Skins looked calm and controlled coming into the second half despite the small margin and continued to defend well against the visitors; Carleton, Parke and Harte making crucial tackles. Despite the formidable Skins back three, Dromore continued to send kicks in behind the defensive line and this seemed to only hand possession back to the home side. The visitors defended well for a long time as Johnston and Buchanan carried hard at their line, while Law and Keys looked for gaps in the centre, but eventually the stalemate ended off the back of another scrum. Holden picked off the back of a good shove from the pack and somehow wrestled an offload to pacy scrum half James Ferguson who left the defence for dead to score under the posts, converted to go 12-5 up.
Dromore, to their credit, didn’t lie down after the second try and continued to make life difficult for the home side, working hard to disrupt the maul and defending tenaciously near the ruck. The space proved to be out wide once again following a period of pressure from Skins just inside the Dromore half; nice hands across the back line found Baloucoune once again in space and he wove through the Dromore defence for his second try, converted by Lendrum.
Enniskillen regrouped quickly, now seeing an opportunity for the bonus point, however, with only minutes left and Dromore continuing to work hard, a knock on ended the contest at 19-5.
Forwards Coach Stevie Welsh was encouraged by the renewed vigour from the pack against solid opposition.
“I was happy with the performance overall. We have been unlucky over the past month or so but took matters into our own hands against a big physical Dromore side.
“Our defence was solid and it sets us up well for the quarter final next week. There is a belief about the squad and we know if we perform we are hard to beat. On a personal note I am very happy with the development of Holden, Alan Ferguson and Cathcart who are maturing into great forwards.”
It was a great result for Enniskillen who have had little league success in 2017 owing to a tough set of January fixtures against in form teams. The side have shown maturity to turn this around and now sit 5th in the table, with top four still possible, and head into a Town’s cup Quarter Final this weekend away to Ards.
Enniskillen 3XV 15
Portadown 4XV 14
Enniskillen 3rd XV progressed to the semi finals of the McCambley cup last Saturday afternoon after coming from behind to win by the narrowest of margins against a strong travelling Portadown team.
It was Portadown who started the stronger; quick recycling and strong ball carrying from the forwards coupled with some slow, disorganised defending allowed them under the posts for a converted try. Some loose kicking and a poor line chase added pressure on a skins team struggling for possession and cohesion. To confound matters an innocuous trip by Rea Armstrong earned him a yellow card, and as he was summoned back on captain Alan Wilkinson replaced him in the bin following a high tackle. However, despite playing twenty minutes with fourteen men the Enniskillen men started gaining some control and, through steady pressure, pack leader Michael Cadden was able to crash over. Although Chris McVitty missed the conversion, he later slotted a penalty over to give skins an 8-7 lead. Portadown weren’t rolling over and went on the attack yet again, a slipped tackle allowing their winger to glide in under the posts for their second converted try, leaving it a justifiable 14-8 in the visitors’ favour going into the second half. It was Enniskillen who started the brighter in the second half, simplifying their offensive game and organising their defence, allowing them to gain dominance. Although they were let off the hook, as Portadown missed a straightforward penalty in one of their few second half chances, Enniskillen never looked out of control. After some good territory and pressure the referee brought Enniskillen back for a penalty advantage under the posts, and rather than take the easy three points McVitty took the quick tap and two good passes later James Cunningham used his pace to round his man for skins’ second try. McVitty converted to make it 15-14 with 15 minutes left to play. However, steady counterattacking play from Keith Hurst at fullback, well supported by Duracell flanker Joel Mullholland, kept Portadown in their own half. When the pressure did mount in the last 5 minutes, it was great backline defence from wing Nathan Rutledge, Wilkinson and his centre partner Nathan Richmond, on his first appearance since breaking his back last year, and last minute 15th man ‘Spud’ Murphy from the pack, that held Portadown out to the final whistle. A very tough contest in the semi-final awaits and all are hoping for a home draw on the 11th March to get as much support on the touchline as possible.
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Skins U12’s Play at Halftime of Ulster v Glasgow
The Enniskillen Under-12s took centre stage last Saturday at Kingspan Stadium as Ulster defeated Glasgow in a major PRO12 game. As part of the Ulster branch’s efforts to include domestic rugby in the professional game, Enniskillen were invited to play a quick game at halftime and also to form a guard of honour as the Ulster team arrived on the pitch. It was an excellent experience for the young aspiring players who represented the club and town admirably.
