When Enniscorthy out half Conal Kervick kicked a fine 40-metre penalty in the 63rd minute he put his team 20-12 Infront which meant that the visitors needed 2 scores to secure victory. Enniscorthy however failed to manage the remainder of the game and faltered badly in the last 10 minutes as the defence had to withstand serious pressure in those last 6 minutes of the game in particular. The home teams gallant defence was eventually breached as they conceded a kickable penalty from almost in front of the post after straying offside and the resulting award was slotted over buy out half David Maxwell who closed the gap. That inspired Clogher Valley to drive forward and their sustained pressure was rewarded in the final minute with a winning try after the Enniscorthy defence who had lost 2 of their own lineouts which had been outstanding all day eventually led to the winning score as the home team capitulated and the outstanding wing forward Aaron Dunwoody touching down and with the conversion added by Maxwell the win was secured. There wasn’t enough time left for Enniscorthy to chase a winning score.

Obviously, there was frustration at the final whistle when yet again Enniscorthy conceded victory in the final 10 minutes. It was obvious from the kick off that it was going to be a close match as the teams looked evenly matched. The breakthrough score came when a high clearing kick from fullback Jake Woods was caught inside his own half by Ban Kidd who mounted an immediate attack and with Ivan Jacob on his shoulder, he feed him the ball and Jacob punched a massive hole in the visitor’s defence with some terrific handling Miguel Byrne finished in the corner. The conversion was missed.

From the drop off however the home team were pushed right back for the next 10 minutes and eventually number 8 Callum Smyton scored in the country end of Alcast Park. Maxwell kicked a brilliant conversion from the wing and suddenly the momentum had swung with the visitors leading 7-5. Ben Kidd was again to the fore when he caught another high ball and this time, he moved it to the right to Ivan Jacob who again made serious ground before setting up a maul as the forwards took it on Tony Ryan finished the job scoring in the right-hand corner. Kidd added the difficult conversion for a 12- 7 lead.

It obvious at the start of the 2nd half they visitors were not going away and they scored a 2nd try in the 47th minute with lively scrumhalf Matthew Bothwell scoring but the conversion was missed and it was now a level match. 10 minutes later the scrumhalf Bothwell breezed through the Enniscorthy defence and just short of the line he knocked on and Enniscorthy escaped but this was a warning to the to the home team as the very young and energetic visitors were not going to go away easily. 
 

Kervick’s penalty put Enniscorthy Infront and then the last ditch try secured maximum points for the visitors from Fivemiletown in County Tyrone and ensured they had a happy long journey home. When the final whistle sounded Enniscorthy were again left wondering what had gone wrong but the reality in that last crucial 10 minutes they lost their shape and their tackling let them down against a very speedy and well drilled Clogher Valley team.

Enniscorthy are now 8th in the table but remarkably are 3rd in the scoring charts but defensively they are joint top in the number of points conceded and that is an area of concern going forward.

They are playing some superb rugby but they just can’t buy a win at the moment and the hope is that it will all come together eventually.

There next game is away to Galwegians on the 29th November and that certainly won’t be easy as the Westerners are topping the table and are the only unbeaten team in the division and are 6 points clear of UL Bohemians who they beat in Limerick last weekend.

Team: Ben Kidd, Ivan Jacob, Rhyan Whelan, Shane McGuire (Jack Kelly 62nd min), Miguel Byrne, Conal Kervick, Fiachra Hourihane. MJ Doyle (Andy Redmond 62nd min), Davy Murphy (Mickey McVeigh 60min} Ore Lasisi, Tomas Stamp, Tom Ryan, Lee Treacy (James Doyle 65min), Timmy Morrissey, Tony Ryan (Capt.)

Next game away to Galwegians November 29th @ 2.30pm

Footnote: Credit to the Enniscorthy ground staff for having the pitch in excellent condition in spite of all the rain that felt last week

Main Club Sponsors IWP Wel Pallets,  Alcast Motors