After a season plagued by wet weather and cancelled fixtures, a gloriously sunny day in Athy set the scene for the Enniscorthy Colts’ (U18.5s) dramatic Leinster Division One Final win against a strong Portlaoise team.
Portlaoise opened the scoring in the game with a well taken penalty kick after an early Enniscorthy infringement. After some sustained pressure, Enniscorthy responded five minutes later with a well worked Jack Kavanagh try off a scrum which was under great pressure from a strong Portlaoise pack. Rhyan Whelan’s conversion was successful and Enniscorthy led 7-3. Some missed tackles and defensive lapses saw Portlaoise score two converted tries to give them an ominous lead. Great composure from Rhyan Whelan with a successful penalty kick reduced the deficit. Shortly after that an impressive break from Rhyan from our lineout was finished off by Finn Soraine who ran a great support line to score a try which was converted to bring the score to 17-17. A penalty kick shortly after the restart saw Portlaoise head into the break ahead by 3 points.
Captain Tommy Cahill took command of a player-led halftime team talk identifying the areas where the game was slipping away from them and the action needed to crack open the strong Portlaoise defence. Figuring out that an arm wrestle with Portlaoise’s strong forwards was not going to end well, Enniscorthy unleashed their backs in a move starting with our number 8 Matthew McGowan picking from the base of scrum, eluding a tackle with great footwork to pass the ball through Tommy Cahill, Rhyan Whelan and into the hands of Kevin Barron who powered through the space created and scored an excellently worked try. The conversion brought the score to 24-20 but soon afterwards Portlaoise responded with a converted try to push in front again.
Great composure and pressure through multiple phases 5 metres from Portlaoise’s line saw Danny Kervick crash over for a try, which Rhyan converted to bring the score 31-27 in Enniscorthy’s favour. An infringement from the restart gave Portlaoise an easy penalty kick and the score stood at 31-30. Rhyan Whelan kicked two further penalties and Enniscorthy buckled down for the final 15 minutes to hold out a very determined Portlaoise side. The final whistle blew with the score at 37-30 and an elated Enniscorthy were crowned Leinster Division One champions.
Enniscorthy Team – Mikie Reck, Danny Kervick, Zack Creane, Cian Bolger, Sean Doyle, Luke Wheelock, Bill Blyth, Matthew McGowan, Tommy Cahill (captain), Jack Kavanagh, Finn Soraine, Kevin Barron, Rhyan Whelan, Adam Power, Cathal Kehoe, Calum Kane, Max Horan, Conor O’Brien, Odhran Cullen, Luke Byrne, Sean Downes, Jonny Greig, Isaac Kearney.
U13s Leinster League Winners Huge congratulations to Enniscorthy winning the Under 13 Leinster League Final v Gorey last Saturday in Portlaoise . Gorey started strong with a try and conversion early in the half. Enniscorthy fought back with a well taken try by Darragh Doyle converted by Alex Waugh. The first half ended with 7 points each. Gorey took the lead with a try early in the second half however missed the conversion. From there the momentum was with Enniscorthy boys, with an excellent team try finished off by Evan Dooley and converted by Alex Waugh . The in-form David Doyle ran in an excellent individual try with ‘Scorthy finishing strongly winning out 19 to 12. Huge effort by all the boys.
The boys continued their winning ways this week despite playing 3 games in 8 days. On Wednesday they played North Kildare under lights in the McGowan Plate quarter final winning 22-12. They followed this with a 26-22 semi final win in the same competition over Wicklow on Sunday, earning themselves a place in the final.
The U16 girls put in a good performance in the Leinster League Premier play off but were unlucky to lose 5- 0 to Portdara.
The two big under-age victories over the weekend helped to ease the gloom after the men lost their Energia All-Ireland League Division 2C play-off to Dolphin in Cork on a 42-20 scoreline.
