AIL Qualifier 2^nd round

Enniscorthy 46

Clonmel       05

Enniscorthy continued to power their way through to the Senior ranks of Irish rugby when they beat the Munster Champions Clonmel 46-5 at Ross Road on Saturday last in their 2^nd AIL Qualifier.

To be fair the visitors came out of the blocks flying and they scored an excellent opening try right from drop off with Luke Hogan’s pace catching the Enniscorthy defence off guard. The conversion was missed but Clonmel continued to dominate the exchanges as the home team struggled to find their rhythm and they were on top for the opening 15 minutes.

Enniscorthy eventually settled and on their first visit into the Clonmel 22 they were awarded a penalty which Ivan Poole slotted into the town side.

They were now settled and the forwards at last put some consistent play together and eventually after some pick and drives the 1^st try came with Nick Doyle and Paddy Waters involved the ball was worked to Killian Lett who put hooker Davy Murphy in for a try and the lead which they were never relinquished.

In the 35^th minute they scored their 2^nd try and again it was the forwards who set up a maul from a lineout after

several moves the ball found its way out to the left wing and Davy O’Dwyer burst through to touch down and whilst the conversion was missed the score was now 13-5.

Clonmel did not give up and had some chances themselves although the Enniscorthy defence was now well organised.

The defining moment of the 1^st half arrived just on half time when Clonmel had a scrum under the Enniscorthy post which was set on 3 occasions and with the home teams scrum under pressure a try looked lightly but they were penalised for a front row infringement which was most certainly a let off because if Clonmel were to score then it might have changed the landscape of the game. Enniscorthy were leading 13-5 at half time.

The 2^nd half was only 5 minutes old when Enniscorthy scored their 3^rd try which was a thing of beauty. Nick Doyle tapped a lineout ball down to Arthur Dunne and his footwork saw him escape into space he in turn fed the ball to Tom Ryan and Killian Letts quick offload to the flying Ivan Jacob who touched down in the corner and for good measure Ivan Poole kicked the conversion from out on the touchline. 5 minutes later Enniscorthy score the 4^th try and again it had class stamped all over it with Richard Dunne making a drive through the middle the ball was worked to Ivan Poole who hah hooker Davy Murphy outside him and the hooker through a beautiful pass to Nick Doyle and the number 8 put Ivan Jacob through the space to score again in the corner, Ivan Poole kicked another brilliant conversion and again it was from the side-line and a 27-5 lead. Nick Doyle was sin bin but that had no effect on Enniscorthy’s play.

It was all Enniscorthy now and David O’Dwyer kicked ahead and won the race for the ball and he moved it to Hughie O’Neill who had fullback Richard Dunne who scored the 5^th try and there was to be one more when Davy Murphy intercepted a sloppy Clonmel pass to touch down from close in. Alan Jacob kicked the conversion for what turned out to be an emphatic victory which for a long time didn’t look on.

Captain Tom Ryan “We didn’t start very well today but I suppose when we got going, we did the business and to be fair we didn’t panic with our bad start and we worked our way into the game.

Our backs are electric at the moment and they score some really good tries today. I have to credit the coaches for the way we are playing at the moment but the job is not done yet as we have to travel to Connemara next Saturday and that wont the easy but we are looking forward to it “.

Team: Paddy Waters (Conal Kavanagh 68mins), Davy Murphy (Jamie Barron 65mins), Angelo Todisco, Timmy Morrissey, Tom Ryan (Jim White), Alan Jacob, Brian Bolger, Nick Doyle, Arthur Dunne (Billy Wickham 72mins), Ivan Poole (Hughie O’Neill 70 mins), Ivan Jacob, Killian Lett, Daniel Pim, David O’Dwyer, Richard Dunne.

Enniscorthy travel to play Connemara next Saturday KO 2.30pm