A trip to the home of world famous Clonmel Chardonnay saw the home side toasting a Christmas win, as Enniscorthy succumbed to a 32-26 defeat. They will be bitterly disappointed that they could not build on last week’s massive home win and will rue the missed opportunity to close the gap on front runners Clogher Valley, who also suffered a defeat, that saw them slip down to second place. 

The home side had much the better of the opening fare. Two early penalties from the boot of outhalf O Connor saw Clonmel take an early 6-0 lead, but were possibly disappointed not to be further ahead as they heaped the pressure on Enniscorthy and had a ball held up over the line. The exploits of last weekend looked to have taken its toll on the Wexford men who were disjointed and lacklustre for the opening quarter. 

The away side got going shortly after this and were soon rewarded with a close quarters try. Some strong carries off the back of a line out, gave the ‘Scorthy forwards the chance to bash away at the line, before Mikey McVeigh crashed over. There did appear to be a knock-on before McVeigh went over, much to the annoyance of home supporters. They let their feelings be known rather boisterously and perhaps put kicker Ben Kidd off, as he missed the fairly routine conversion. 

The disjointed nature of the game continued with both teams finding it hard to play with any continuity. Enniscorthy eventually took charge of the game and worked down the field through a series of penalties, eventually culminating in a penalty try, leaving the game at 12-6.  A litany of Clonmel scrum infringements under the posts left the referee with no choice and it appeared he went to his pocket to yellow card one of the Clonmel front row, in accordance with the laws of the game. 

However on the restart Clonmel lined up with 15 players and 3 minutes later were back ahead after collecting a line out, earned from a penalty off the restart, and driving over from 15 yards. The successful conversion brought the half to an end, with Clonmel leading 13-12 and  Enniscorthy scratching their heads as to why they were still facing 15 men. 

Both management teams would have been asking their charges for more during the second half and it was the Tipperary men who duly responded, lifting their game considerably. Outhalf O Connor was to the fore of this, slicing through the Enniscorthy defence time and again. Clonmel added three tries in the second half and were full value for a 32-19 lead, with O Connor instrumental in all 3 and adding two conversions. 

Enniscorthy had added a converted try through Lee Treacy at the beginning of the second half. Good field position, forced through a powerful scrum, allowed the forwards to batter the Clonmel line, with Treacy eventually crashing over. However from here until the 75th minute, Enniscorthy were second best, but credit to the travelling team, they never gave up and were unlucky not to snatch it at the death. 

With four minutes remaining, similar to the other tries, Tom Ryan crashed over from close range. Strong carries off the back of a solid lineout gave ‘Scorthy a great platform. From here they were awarded a 5 metre penalty and were able to tightened up and power over the line under the posts. Nick Doyle added the conversion and ‘Scorthy had 4 minutes to salvage and unlikely win. They would throw the kitchen sink at Clonmel and were camped on their line deep into added time, but credit to the home side, they defended resolutely and held out for a deserved win. 

Enniscorthy management will look back on the game and be disappointed with the manner of the team performance. An error ridden display didn’t allow the team to build any fluidity. The lineout, an area of real strength this year, faltered and denied them a base to work from. Last week’s MOTM Liam Stamp was sorely missed around the field. McVeigh put in a strong showing on his first start at senior level, along with fellow youngster Conor Byrne. 

Enniscorthy will look to regroup over the Christmas break and welcome back some of their injured players. Their next game is on January 13th, when the welcome Clonmel to Alcast Park.

Angelo Todisco, Davie Murphy, MJ Doyle, Conor Byrne, Tomás Stamp, Mikey McVeigh, Lee Treacy (Doyle 70), Tom Ryan, Fiachra Hourihane, Ben Kidd (Kelly 60), Kevin O Connor, Daniel Pim, Nick Doyle, David O Dwyer, Jack Kelly (Barry 55), Ryan Cahill, Aaron Doyle, Andrew Redmond, Graham Barry, Killian Creed

Photo credit: Paul Condon, Clonmel RFC