Enniscorthy Hockey Club men’s first XI announced their return to Division 4 with a 4-1 win over a tame visiting Mullingar side on Saturday, a hat-trick from Charlie Dunne and a goal from Seb Rynhart probably the least that was deserved in what was a dominant Enniscorthy performance.

The hosts were quick out of the blocks, earning two penalty corners and a pair of long corners inside the first six minutes before Dunne opened the scoring on nine minutes. He almost had his second just minutes later when hitting the woodwork with a reverse stick shot, but Rynhart made amends shortly after when rounding the visiting goalkeeper to double the lead.

The one-way traffic continued in the second quarter with chances falling to Hogan, Dunne and Roy Chapman for the hosts before Dunne got his second of the afternoon after being set up by the lively Rynhart, leaving Enniscorthy 3-0 up at the break.

The restart saw an early effort from Hogan well saved by the busy Mullingar goalkeeper and a Leo Durnan shot deflected out for a long corner. A duo of penalty corners for the hosts were ably dealt with by Mullingar before a rare foray into the Enniscorthy semi circle. The Westmeath outfit used long, high aerials quite effectively, and one such opportunity four minutes from the end of the third quarter forced Hill in the Enniscorthy goal into a tackle which umpire Ed Lindsay had little hesitation in penalising. Marc Watters converted the resulting penalty flick and with just over a full quarter remaining Mullingar sensed an opportunity.

Enniscorthy responded with a flurry of chances, Tully and Rynhart (three) all keeping the Mullingar goalkeeper alert while earning another two penalty corners and a long corner, and the pressure continued as the fourth quarter got underway. Mullingar tried to find a deflection from a brace of crash balls before Dunne completed his hat-trick nine minutes before time. Saturday sees the side travel to Serpentine Avenue and a meeting with Dublin giants Pembroke Wanderers.

Squad: Graham Hill, David Simmons, Glenn Chapman, Andrew Rothwell, Ivan Rothwell, Roy Chapman, Seb Rynhart, Aodhán O’Leary, Cian Hogan, Charlie Dunne, William Durnan, Leo Durnan, Jack Tully, Jack Doran. Manager Fraser Rothwell. Selector Ian Rynhart.