All so easy for Ennis U-14s

Ennis 38   Old Crescent 0

Ennis U-14s notched up their third league win out of four with a comprehensive win over Old Crescent at the Showgrounds last Sunday.

On a wet field, possession was going to be a determining factor and Ennis managed to keep it tight for long periods, releasing their backs to punish out wide after Crescent’s defence had been sucked in.

Ennis opened the scoring with a Luke Carmody try after only three minutes with Connor Kearns converting. Crescent didn’t panic and took the game to Ennis but couldn’t make inroads against a defence that pressurised possession and made their tackles.

Mid-way through the half, Crescent came close to scoring with a cross-field kick but were unlucky to knock on when gathering the ball unopposed. It wasn’t until two minutes before the break that Cathal Talty took a great supporting line off a Niall O’Brien half break to burst over to the right of the posts. Kearns was unlucky with the resulting conversion leaving the game 12-0 in Ennis’ favour.

Just after the restart, Jack Colleran crossed the line after some straight running for a converted Ennis try.

In the final ten minutes Ennis opened the flood gate with a magnificent try from Ikem Ugweru after some fantastic offloading from O’Brien, Leen and Culligan to sprint the final 35m. Luke Carmody notched up his second of the day and just before the final whistle Conor Cahill broke through under the posts for an easy tap over for Darragh O’Shea

Ennis’ next league match is away to Young Munster.

Ennis: C Cahill, E O’Cellaigh, L Carmody, S Hogan, C Kearns, I Ugwueru, D O’Shea, C Sheedy, J Colleran, T Hannon, JJ Baker, E Leen, C Talty, A Culligan, N O’Brien; S Magliocco, E Grace, C Chapman, M Fitzgerald, J Warren, J Hartigan, M Cabey, R Corey.

U-17
Ennis 31   Young Munster 13

Ennis travelled to Young Munster on Sunday for their third game in the North Munster league hoping to make it three wins from three.

Young Munster got off to the stronger start and played the majority of the first half in the Ennis half and were ahead at half time 6-0. Ennis defended well throughout the half and did well to keep Young Munster from crossing the line.

Good work by the Ennis pack at the breakdown and strong tackling by the Ennis backline kept a confident Young Munster team from pulling too far ahead.

After the restart, Young Munster continued to apply the pressure and were rewarded with a try under the posts that was converted and put them 13-0 ahead. Ennis continued to work hard and picked up the pace of the game and were rewarded with a try by Evan McMahon that was converted by Eimhin Courtney.

Immediately from the kick-off Ennis continued to apply the pressure and then from a strong scrum in the middle of the field, some excellent handling from the base of the scrum and good timing in the backline released Brian Cahill who broke through the Young Munster defence to score a great try under the posts. This was again converted by Courtney and Ennis led 14-13.

Young Munster restarted and Ennis immediately pushed them back again and with a lovely kick through from Courtney, Cian O’Ceallaigh chased and made the touch down in the corner, Ennis continued to apply pressure from the restart and were rewarded with two more tries scored by Evan McMahon and Brian Cahill.
Ennis’ next game is away to Garryowen on November 18

Ennis squad: Elle Mundu, Ciaran O’Connor, James Crowley-Hayes, Alan Brichfield, Seamus Quigley, Hugh Butler, Ronan McLernon, David Flynn, Liam Lynch, Eimhin Courtney, Evan McMahon, Brian Cahill, Cian O’Ceallaigh, David Reynolds, James Woods, Oisin Kelly, Paudi Carmody, Liam Halpin, Jordan Ryan, Cathal Kelly, Darragh Ryan, Karl Cullinane, David Carmody, David Buggy, Cillian O’Gormain.

Ennis 16   Shannon/St Mary’s 11

Ennis had a 16-11 victory over a physically bigger Shannon/St Mary’s side at the Showgrounds the previous week.

Shannon dominated in the early exchanges but they did not capitalise on this until fifteen minutes into the game when they crashed through a weak Ennis defence for the opening score.

Ennis rallied after this and applied themselves better at the breakdown forcing Shannon to concede a scrum on their own 22. The resulting maul led to Oisin Kelly driving over powerfully to open the account for the home team. Ennis continued to threaten but with five minutes to go they conceded a penalty in front of their posts that was easily slotted over.

Penalties were traded before half time leaving Shannon ahead at the break with a score of 11-8.

Ennis adjusted their play in the second half to take advantage of the strong breeze and the half-back pairing of Liam Lynch and Eimhin Courtney kept Shannon pinned in their own half.

Courtney intercepted the ball on his own 22 and raced the length of the field but was just caught within 10 metres of the try line. Ennis won the resulting line out following fine work by Hugh Butler and after going close for a few phases, David Flynn drove over for an unconverted try to give Ennis the lead.

Good tackling from winger David Reynolds and full-back James Woods snuffed out some occasional Shannon attacks and the Ennis pack held their own in what was becoming an increasingly fractious contest, leading to players from either side being sin binned.

With two minutes remaining, Shannon conceded a penalty right in front of their posts, leaving Eimhin Courtney the easiest of tap-overs to give Ennis a 16-11 lead. Despite a few anxious moments, Ennis held out for a notable victory over their Limerick rivals.

U-16

 

Ennis 12   St Senan’s 5

Ennis kicked off their U-16 campaign with a 12-5 victory over St Senan’s in Shannon last Saturday.

The visitors dominated the early exchanges at the breakdown and good performances from Stephen Burke, David Flynn and Jordan Ryan ensured that Ennis won their own ball in the rucks and this served as a base from which they built their early attacks.

Out-half Michael Lyons began to find gaps in the Senan’s centre and made some promising breaks that kept the home team on the back foot.

The breakthrough eventually came in the 13th minute when Lyons broke through to touch down. Ennis kept up the pressure and another break from Lyons in the 17th minute created a path for centre Paudie Carmody to race through and touch down unchallenged under the posts.

This try was converted by Oisin Kelly. Ennis pushed to keep St Senan’s in their own half and they had a scrum on the 22, close to half time, when one of the Senan’s front row went down with a serious injury.

The game restarted after a considerable delay and neither side looked like creating any serious chances for the next 20 minutes. St Senan’s managed a break away try but failed to convert and this was the only score of the second half.

Ennis’ next game is against Thomond on November 11.

Ennis: Stephen Burke, Luke Ryan, Demyd Yatsenko, Liam Halpin, Sam Skerrit, Jordan Ryan, Osin Kelly, David Flynn, Mikey Clinton, Michael Lyons, David Reynolds, Paudie Carmody, Karl Cullinane, Ross Kelly, Conall Curtin, Darragh Ryan, Caolain Meaney, David Buggy, Cillian O’Gormain.

U-19
Young Munster/Ennis 3   Garryowen 19

Last Sunday week marked the third outing for the combined Young Munster/Ennis U-19 team. The game was a lot closer then the score line suggests.

The home side led for most of the first half but conceded a try just before half time and found themselves chasing the game from then on.

It was a very close game up to the last 15 minutes.