A third defeat for St Senan’s

Tralee 30   St Senan’s 12

St Senan’s succumbed to their third straight defeat away to Tralee last Sunday in O’Dowd Park, a defeat that leaves them joint bottom of the table.

 

With a two-week break before their next game in the Challenge Cup quarter-final against Clonmel, the squad will be working hard in training to get the monkey off their back.

A strong wind kept the kicking to a minimum in the opening half as Tralee opened the scoring with two early penalties. Tralee got their first try soon after and converted, giving Senan’s a 13-point deficit to make up.Tralee were playing a running game with support for every ball carrier and Aidan McMahon had a busy day at the full-back office, making a number of important try-saving tackles, even when isolated.

It took 35 minutes for the Saints to start using the ball to good effect, Fearghal Lawlor hit No 8 Ian Fitzgerald from a lineout on the Tralee halfway line and the pack linked up to drive a maul all the way to the Tralee line but were held up just short.

Tralee’s defence had been sucked in to cover the strong carries from Ryan, Fitzgerald and Skerritt, giving the backs three on two out wide. Noone skipped the pass to the outside, where David Dunne had to step inside his man and slide in for the Saints’ first score. The conversion was missed, giving Senan’s a lifeline going into half-time when the score was 13-5.

The second half resumed with Senan’s and Tralee both working hard. McMahon was always looking dangerous from full-back while Hugh Murphy was threatening the outside space with each carry. The referee awarded Tralee a number of penalties early on and their kicker proved to be the difference. Just 10 minutes into the second half they found themselves 19-5 ahead. The match was then stopped for 25 minutes due to an injury to Eamonn O’Donohgue, St Senan’s openside.

Play resumed and St Senan’s had the better start. The scrum had been won by Senan’s all day and Tralee were really under pressure when their tight head was sin-binned after repeated warnings from the referee.After sustained pressure, Senan’sw were awarded a penalty try under the posts, which was easily converted by Philip Noone.

Tralee started to pull away again with two penalties from the boot of their on-form kicker and a second unconverted try eventually closed out the score at 30-12.

St Senan’s will play Garryowen in the Gleeson League at Slattery Park in Shannon this Saturday at 2.30pm.

St Senan’s: Patrick Ryan, Fearghal Lawlor, Tony O’Brien, Aaron Skerrit, Trevor Skerrit, Stephen Ryan, Eamonn O’Donoghue, Ian Fitzgerald, Daragh McCoy, Philip Noone Jake Egan, Neil McDonagh, Hugh Murphy, David Dunne, Aidan McMahon.
Replacements: David Webb, Mikey Lynch, Jamie Keogh, Declan Collins, Ger McNamara.

Muskerry 26   Ennis 24
Ennis found themselves 20 points in arrears at half-time in this league tie on Sunday and this left them with a mountain to climb.

They fought back strongly and with just two minutes to go, they were a point in front. However, Muskerry had the final say and they landed a penalty in the last minute to seal victory.

Both sides missed early penalty chances before Muskerry took the lead with a converted try in the ninth minute. Midway through the half, they landed a penalty to take a 10-0 lead. The Cork side added two unconverted tries before half-time, when the score stood at 20-0.

Ennis got a great start to the second half when John Moore took a quick tap penalty and went over for a try, which was converted by Davy Murphy. The home side missed a few chances to extend their lead before Muskerry landed a penalty to make it 23-7.

Inside the final 10 minutes Ennis piled on the pressure and Moore got in for another try, which was again converted by Murphy. Four minutes from time Eanna Talty got in for a try to close the gap to four points. Two minutes after that, Moore struck for his third try, which edged the home side into a one-point lead. However, Muskerry had the final say and a last-minute penalty saw them secure victory.

Ennis: Joe Moloney, David O’Connor, Liam Ryan, Enda Galvin, Paddy Harding, Conor O’Mahony, Keelan Flynn, Damien Forde, Cian Guilfoyle, Davy Murphy, Shaun O’Flanagan, Brandon Grant, John Moore, Frank Coffey, Conor Dolan.
Subs: Eanna Talty, Evan Lewis, Stephen Duggan, Roy Duggan and Cian Flynn.

Scariff 8   Bantry Bay and Dunmanway 8
Scariff got their 2012/2013 season underway with a draw away to Bantry Bay and Dunmanway. A try from Adrian Burke and a penalty from Eoin Collins made up the scores for the Clare side who had their chances to win the game and were unlucky not to come away with the win, as Eoin Collins and Robbie Madden came close.

Scariff: Joe McGrath, Colin Bugler, David Harte, Michael Noonan, Daragh McNamara (capt), Conor Minogue, Henry Purcell, Robbie Madden, Tyrone Elliot, Eoin Collins, Ger Burke, Steven Madden, Adrian Burke, Paul Lynch, Paul O’Sullivan.
Replacements: Rory Slattery, Kenny Mason, Hugh McNamara, Tom McMahon, Bernard McGrath.

Ennis 13   Kilrush 5
Ennis U-17s kicked off their league campaign with a hard-fought 13-5 victory over Kilrush at Monmore on Sunday. Ennis gained early supremacy in the scrums, led by a strong front row of Ciaran O’Connor, James Crowley-Hayes and Elle Mundu.

Despite early pressure from the visitors, the opening score of the game did not arrive until the 12th minute, when Kilrush conceded a penalty just outside their own 22 and this was converted by out-half Eimhin Courtney. Ennis continued to apply pressure and making use of a strong wind, they kicked for the corners, keeping Kilrush pinned within their own half.

The line-out proved to be a happy hunting ground for Ennis, with Hugh Butler and David Flynn working well at winning their own and disrupting the opposition throw-in. Kilrush continued to defend strongly but on the 20th minute Eimhin Courtney intercepted a pass from across the Kilrush back line and raced through to down the ball under the posts for the first try of the game.

The conversion followed. The home team upped their intensity and on the 25-minute mark forced a penalty just outside the Ennis 22. Kilrush put together a powerful drive, which resulted in an unconverted try.

The second half again proved to be a very close affair. Competent defence from Ennis wingers David Reynolds and Conor Somers, centres Cian O’Ceallaigh and James Woods and full-back Lorcan Casey helped deal with further Kilrush attacks. Hard work at the breakdown from Jason Smith, Alan Britchfield and Ronan McLernon forced the home team to concede penalties and they paid the ultimate price five minutes into the second half when again they committed an infringement within their own 22, which provided a relatively easy opportunity for the in-form Courtney to convert.

The next game will see Ennis host St Mary’s/Shannon in two weeks’ time.

Ennis: Elle Mundu, Ciaran O’Connor, James Crowley-Hayes, Hugh Butler, Ronan McLernon, Alan Birchfield , Oisín Kelly, David Flynn, Lam Lynch, Eimhin Courtney, Paudie Carmody, Cian O’Ceallaigh, Conor Somers, David Reynolds, Lorcan Casey, James Woods, Jason Smith, Cillian O’Gormain, Demyd Yatsenko, Liam Halpin, Conall Curtin, Jordan Ryan, Seamus Quigley, Cathal Kelly, Adam O’Connor.

Ballina-Killaloe 0   Ennis 60
Ennis travelled to Scariff on Sunday in the North Munster U-14 League and came away with a comfortable victory. With both teams having won their respective U-13 leagues last season, it was a fixture that promised much but unfortunately never lived up to expectations and turned out to be a one-sided affair

It was a case of Ennis starting the better and after only three minutes Jack Colleran crashed over the line from a pre-rehearsed penalty move from the five-metre line. This was followed by tries from Connor Kearns and Niall O’Brien in quick succession, with Kearns landing the first conversion of the day. Ennis kept possession in close quarters and when their backs were presented with good ball, they showed some great handling skills, resulting in fly-half Ikem Ugweru scoring a converted try down the left wing on the 20-minute mark.

Ennis’ remaining scores of the half came by way of Connor Kearns, who completed a hat-trick of tries, having also kicked two conversions out of his five attempts. Ennis had all the momentum going into the second half and outside centre Connor Cahill scored two tries early in the half, with Kearns converting both.

Mid-way through the half, Ballina-Killaloe kept battling on and were very unlucky not to score close to the posts after a long period of pressure. Ennis captain Niall O’Brien scored his second of the day after some straight running and a chip over full-back Harry Byrne and their try count was completed by Luke Carmody, with Ugweru converting.

Ballina-Killaloe: H Byrne, M Fitzgerald, M Loughran, R Miley, A O’Leary, J O’Mahony, M Hanly, D Moloney, R Gilmartin, M Walsh, A Nelson, G O’Brien, J Moloney, J Lynch, S Dalton; J Smith, F Tuite, B Houghton, C Sheddy, O Treacy, J Lynch. 
Ennis: E ÓCellaigh, E Grace, C Cahill, S Hogan, C Kearns, C Chapman, I Ugwueru, D Ó Sé, M Fitzgerald, J Warren, C Sheehy, T Hannon, A Cleland, E Leen, R Corey, C Talty, L Carmody, N O’Brien, J Colleran

Fixture
In the U-16 league this Saturday, St Senan’s will play Ennis at Shannon at 12 noon.