Town’s Cup Quarter-Final
Ards 1st XV 7
Enniskillen 1st XV 17
Enniskillen 1st XV pulled off a 17-5 victory away to Ards RFC last Saturday to book their place in the semi final of the River Rock Town’s Cup, now set for March 25th at home to Armagh 2XV. The Ards side, who have struggled alongside Enniskillen in Q1 and face relegation, have exhibited massively improved performances lately and undoubtedly saw the cup as a chance to salvage some success from the season, and naturally they were no pushover on the day and ran Skins very close, but for a couple of well worked scores.
The conditions were fairly calm from the outset but handling errors crept in early on as the surface began to cut up rapidly. Ards were clearly up for the encounter and had some powerful carrying forwards but Enniskillen always looked in control defensively and the back row of Parke, Holden and Harte worked tirelessly near the breakdown, an area that Ards bombarded throughout.
Ards built phases nicely but were well dealt with and their out-half kicked rather aimlessly at times when lacking options, giving ample opportunities to Ashley Finlay at fullback who was characteristically dangerous on the counter attack. The scrum continued to be solid from Skins but Ards generally held their own well and retained their own put in most of the time, but for a well timed shove in the first half from the front row that gained the penalty, Lendrum then kicking Skins downfield to mount an attack. The line out functioned flawlessly but Ards dealt with the maul well, often verging on the illegal, as they collapsed the Skins pack. With this weapon blunted it was the backs who drew first blood as the ball went out wide via some slick passing from the backs to Baloucoune who sped down the wing from just inside the Ards half and evaded cover tackle attempts to score in the corner, unconverted to go 5-0 up.
Ards continued to compete well and both teams ground out the remainder of the half which was mostly played between the two 22’s, each team failing to threaten their respective try lines.
The second half started in the same vein with Ards keen to carry ball but keeping things fairly narrow, and meeting stiff resistance from the Skins pack that consistently forced knock ons from the home side. After a very even 20 minutes a fantastic try came from Skins starting on the halfway; following a James Ferguson break offloads went through Balmer, Parke and then found Johnston in support who ran from outside the 22’ to score out wide, unconverted to go 10-0 up.
Ards continued to put in a dogged performance after this blow and didn’t make life easy for Skins. It was some brilliance from Baloucoune that added to the scoreline 10 minutes later from an Ards attempted clearance kick; changing direction at the defensive line and scything through empty space to score under the posts, converted to go 17-0 up.
The last 10 minutes were industrious from Ards who used an offside penalty to camp themselves inside the Skins 22’. Enniskillen’s defence looked remarkably comfortable defending near their own line and, after bundling Ards into touch, a line out was set up, but a penalty to Ards for a maul infringement gave them a scrum to mount an attack. A Buchanan turn over after the scrum allowed Lendrum to relieve the pressure but Ards returned to near the Skins try line from the line out still in search of points. A well deserved, if controversial, Ards try made it’s way over the Skins line before full time as the referee inadvertently blocked a defensive run from Holden to let the Ards scrum half on the scoreboard, but declared the try stood and things ended 17-7 to Enniskillen.
The win sees Enniskillen head into a Town’s Cup Semi-Final against an Armagh 2nd XV side who have seen off substantial competition from both Ballyclare and Omagh, to be played at Mullaghmeen on 25th March. The immediate focus for Skins, however, returns to the league with only three fixtures remaining to try to salvage a top 4 finish; the first of which is a return to Ards this weekend in what will prove to be another stiff fixture given the heart shown by the side last weekend.
Randalstown U14 38
Enniskillen U14 12
Enniskillen under 14 entered the pool stage of the cup last Saturday with an away trip to Randalstown, who came 3rd in East 1 league this season. Skins started into a strong wind but started well, before losing possession early on which allowed the Randalstown monster 6 ft prop to run into the corner, unconverted to go 5-0 up. Skins went back down the other end and built some phases from a turn over that ended with a Nathan Nixon try under the posts, which Oisin Farry converted to take a 7-0 lead. Skins looked to be in the ascendency building some good phases, but again from a handling error Skins conceded and Randalstown scored under the posts.
Enniskillen went back down to the Randalstown half again in hopes of gaining the upper hand but another turnover resulted in a try out wide, the conversion missed. Shortly afterwards another turnover had Randalstown charging down the skins end to score a unconverted try. Skins regrouped well and won the ball back, worked it down the pitch for Charles Johnston to finish in the Corner, Oisin just wide with the conversion. Skins dominated to the half but had a tough task ahead.
Having expected to turn around with a wind advantage, and dominating line outs and scrums, Skin planned to close the gap but Mother Nature thought otherwise and the wind ceased, followed by constant stream of heavy rain fell. Skins created many chances now but got white line fever crept in as they rushed efforts to reduce the deficit, allowing Randalstown to scramble in defence. Skins got punished by some physical Randalstown players as they continued to get turned over 3 more times to leave a final Score of 39 to 12. The highlight of the game, however, had to be the last 5 minutes when Skins stopped the big prop short of the line and defended for 5 minutes against a rampant Randalstown attack which was fantastic to see from a young, developing side. Whilst this was a defeat on the scoreboard, there were many positives. Skins dominated scrum and line out to create some excellent possession, all that remains is the need to reduce small mistakes and improve the general focus and ability to react to mistakes and changes in gameplay, which all stems from experience. It’s all to play for against Donegal on 11th March and Silverware still remains a target for the young side if this level of development continues.
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Enniskillen U16 25
Omagh U16 5
With the League campaign over it was a quicker start to the Ulster Cup campaign than originally thought, with a home draw to neighbours Omagh and still without the three regulars of Leonard, Flynn and Quill who are currently injured.
The weather and pitch conditions should have dictated a game to favour the Omagh style of rugby and it was the visitors who caught the home side cold in the first 5 minutes when they ran in an unchallenged try which went unconverted. Skins didn’t let this unsettle them and within minutes were level when a chip through to in goal surprisingly wasn’t touched down by the Omagh scrum half and Robert Grannell dived at his feet to draw the sides level. From the restart Skins forwards decided to take control and for long periods worked through phases of high tempo play, and at every opportunity chose to release the backs who weren’t shy at taking on their opponents. One such play led to Grannell finishing off slick handling in the backs, with Maguire coming into the line to make the overlap, to bag a second in the corner which left Skins leading 10-5. O’Hare, Hill and Jackson were proving to be a constant attacking threat whilst Jordan Anderson, playing out of position, along with James McKee were holding up the defensive duties by putting in some amazing tackles to keep Omagh at bay and keeping the score 10-5 at half time.
The second half was like a role reversal with the forwards now deciding to take the headlines with outstanding performances from all eight but some excellent 2nd and 3rd phase pod play with runs from Gilleece, Thompson and Keenan keeping Omagh on the back foot, and some equally excellent ground work from Timoney, Fee and McCarney helping to starve them of their little possession. The Omagh defence held out though for long periods of time but eventually couldn’t handle the sustained strong running of Monaghan and Clarke who bullied their way through countless tackles, Clarke eventually getting his reward with a well deserved try converted by Jackson. It was then Timoney’s turn just a few minutes later to get on the score sheet after covering in his usual quiet fashion countless yards to be in support of another attack to touch down, and again this was converted by Jackson. This proved to be the end of the Omagh challenge, and with weary legs and sore bodies it was time to empty the subs bench with Brown replacing McKee on the wing and McDonnell, Scallon, Monteith and McManus getting their hands well and truly dirty in what was now a very heavy, mudded pitch, but this didn’t deter the young players from getting stuck in.
It’s a pleasing thing for the coaches to witness in the last two weeks’ matches just how far all of these players have come in the last 7 months, both old and young. When thinking back to fixtures against Virginia last season it’s a far cry away for both 16’s and 14’s from where the sides were well and truly schooled in how to play rugby. It’s clear for all, spectators included, to see how this group have turned this around and committed to training and hard work every Wednesday night rain or shine, in developing their maturity and understanding of the game, showing desire that’s a credit to each and every one of the squad. This 24-5 win over Omagh is a great start to the cup campaign for the young side that will only grow more challenging as it unfolds.
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Children’s Book Author Gerard Siggins Talks to ERFC Minis
Enniskillen RFC had a special guest last Sunday evening as they hosted author Gerard Siggins to talk with the Mini Rugby section about some of his work. Gerard Siggins was born in Dublin in 1962. Initially a sports journalist, he worked for many years in the Sunday Tribune, where he became assistant editor. In addition to some books on sporting history, Gerard launched his first Children’s book in 2012, which was to be the first in an ongoing series entitled the ’Rugby Spirit’ books. The books focus on a child’s experiences joining a new school and learning to fit in while benefitting from the lessons learnt and friends made through taking up Rugby. The theme of the books couldn’t be more relevant to the Minis system at ERFC where parents, many ex players among them, bring their children in the hopes of, not only letting them burn off some energy for a couple of hours, but also instilling some of the principles of rugby, a sport where hard work and discipline are key for success. The young players thoroughly enjoyed Gerard’s stories and insights that they found relatable, and, as well as reinforcing their love for rugby, his talk will hopefully help build an interest in reading that can be difficult amongst youth today. Anyone interested in getting their children involved in mini rugby, which covers school groups P3-P7, are very welcome to Email convenor@erfcminis.com for details.
