Enniscorthy’s 1st home match in AIL Div 2B against Navan last Saturday was an outstanding display of exciting running rugby with the opening half producing the best 40 minutes from the home team seen at Ross Road for a long time.
It was a try fest as Navan were carved open at will and just could not live with the precision and accuracy of Enniscorthy’s rugby and whilst the scoreline would suggest that it was a one-sided affair the home teams defence more than matched the flair of the attack, it was superb.
They welcomed back Rhyan Whelan and Fiacre Hourihane but were without Jack Kelly.
Right from the kick off Enniscorthy showed their ambition aided by a strong wind the 1st try came after just 3 minutes when Ivan Jacb finished off scintillating [l1] move down the right wing and finished off the move into the town side for he opening 5 pointer, Fullback Ben Kidd added the conversion.
5 minutes later a beautiful cross field kick from out half Conal Kervick found Graham Barry who scored the 2nd try in the left corner. This time the conversion was missed.
The 3rd try came in the 15th minute and this time the captain Tony Ryan made a superb burst from a loose ruck and as he stormed towards the try line and as he was caught he offloaded to Ben Kidd who had the simple task of touching down under the posts for the 3rd try. He added the conversion.
Enniscorthy snuffed out any chance of Navan making progress with some excellent defending,
Enniscorthy continued the onslaught and it wasn’t long before the bonus 4th try came when Davy Murphy peeled off a line out to touch down.
Navan did score when fullback Shane Walshe broke through the cover but the referee disallowed the effort because of crossing but Enniscorthy responded immediately and moved move the ball at pace and after some wonderful work by Lawrence Power Fiacre Hourihan touched down, it felt like a 10-point swing.
There was to be one more score before the break and this time the forwards carried with real power and Ryhan Whelan did the Riverdance and sent 2 defenders sprawling as he scored.
The only problem the home team had in that 1st half was a collision between Tony Ryan and Rhyan Whelan. They both went off for an assessment but thankfully returned in the 2nd half It was an astonishing 40 minutes of rugby which left the home supporter’s buzzing.
It was impossible to keep that relentless pressure in the 2nd 40 minutes but Navan produced a spirited effort but Enniscorthy's defence wasn’t prepared to crack and their tackling was of the highest order, They did score a try when their No 8 Conor Hand scored a fine try. Enniscorthy did score just one try in the 2nd half with Lee Tracy finishing off the move.
Coach Brett Igoe was very happy with the result and the performance” The lads were great and it was nice to see that the things we had worked on in training during the week really fell into place. Conal Kervick controlled the game beautifully from number 10.
"I was delighted for some of the young lads too Marco Byrne and Lawrence Power, it’s only their 2nd game but they were excellent” he concluded.
Tony Ryan again and there was a vintage performance from Ivan Jacob on the wing.
Lawrence Power and Marco Byrne shared the man of the match award kindly sponsored by Nicky Murphy and Liam Spratt.
Scorers: Ivan Jacob, Davy Murphy, Lee Treacy, Fiacre Hourihan, Rhyan Whelan, Ben Kidd and Graham Barry.
Ben Kidd 5 conversions.
Team: Ben Kidd, Ivan Jacob, Ryhan Whelan, Fiacre Hourihan. Miguel Byrne, Conal Kervick, Graham Barry, Ori Lasisi, Davie murphy, MJ Doyle, Marco Byrne, Tomas Stamp, Laurence Power, Lee Treacy, Tony Ryan(capt).
Next game: Enniscorthy are away to Skerries next Saturday @ 2.30pm.
