Enniscorthy 31 - 35 Ballina
Enniscorthy made the long trip to Mayo last weekend to take on Ballina side fighting for survival in the AIL. It was a real promotion v relegation battle, Enniscorthy with a win would keep the pressure on Galwegiens for second spot and a win for Ballina would lift them off the bottom of the table.
It's not known if it was the long journey, the overnight hotel stay or the tough conditions in Heffernan Park, but Enniscorthy never got into the game. Playing into a stiff breeze in the first half it was going to be a case of holding out Ballina and taking our chances when they came. This was evident when, with their first foray into the Ballina '22, Enniscorthy won a penalty, kicked to the corner and the resultant maul saw Davy Murphy touchdown for the games opening try.
Not to be left behind Ballina won two penalties and their Full Back stepped up and slotted both to leave the score 6-5 to the home team after 15 minutes. Enniscorthy were killing themselves with some sloppy, unforced errors, leaving them exposed at the back, Ballina duly took advantage with winger Liam Golden scoring the first of his tries. Enniscorthy defended really positively for the remainder of the half until continuous pressure from Ballina led to a second try for the hosts. This left the score 18-5 at half time. To add to the disappointment Daniel Pim found himself in the sin bin for the first 5 minutes for the second half.
Playing with the wind in the second half, Enniscorthy had every reason to believe that they had plenty of time to come back, however the second half could not have started much worse. No sooner had Daniel Pim returned to the pitch, the referee showed Timmy Morrissey a yellow card for a deliberate slap down. Timmy had only taken his seat in the dugout when second row Tom Ryan was following him out, having been yellow carded for a high tackle. Two minutes later Tomás Stamp was making his way out to sit with the subs after a yellow card was brandished in his direction too. Enniscorthy were down to 12, and an overheard comment of 'we'll have a basketball team out there soon if we don't cop-on' was never so apt.
Ballina took full advantage of the numerical imbalance to run in 3 tries in the first 20 minutes of the second half, to leave Enniscorthy trailing by 35 points to 5. A huge task to come back, however with the introduction of some fresh legs and intent on taking out the frustration of the opening hour on the opposition, Enniscorthy scored their second try. Timmy Morrissey, fresh from his 10 minute rest, made a great break from midfield, popped off to Aaron Doyle and was then on hand to receive the return pass and dot down over the line.
Ballina were having discipline problems of their own and Enniscorthy were rewarded with a penalty try. Suddenly Enniscorthy were thinking could they... MJ Doyle took matters into his own hands to finish off a great team try to give Enniscorthy a 4 try bonus point and leave the score 35-24 going into injury time. To Enniscorthys great credit they took the restart and went through 16-18 phases down the pitch, eventually leaving space on the outside for Killian Creed to score and in turn give Enniscorthy a second losing bonus point. The final score was 35-31 in favour of the hosts.
The Enniscorthy lads can take great credit in the way they fought back to secure 2 points when it looked ominous after 60 minutes, however if they are to progress through the playoffs they will have to improve the discipline, decision making and all round 80 minute performances. Enniscorthy have a must win game at home to Bruff this Saturday, 30th April, at 2.30 in Alcast Park, they will surely relish the chance to right the wrongs from last weekend.
Team: Scott O'Connor, Davie Murphy, MJ Doyle (C), Tomás Stamp, Tom Ryan, Mikey McVeigh, Lee Treacy, Timmy Morrisey, Fiachra Hourihane, Jack Kelly, Adam Gethings, Daniel Pim, Dave O'Dwyer, Kevin O'Connor, Nick Doyle Subs (all used): Aaron Doyle, Angelo Todisco, Darragh Joyce, Graham Barry, Killian Creed.
