Ennis and UL Bohs face rematch in U-13 league final

Ennis                   7 
UL Bohemians  7
Munster youth rugby is in good shape judging by the extremely high standard of play on show in the U-13 league final between Ennis and UL Bohemians at St Senan’s grounds in Shannon last Sunday.
The game was played in conditions that ranged from warm sunshine to downpours of hailstones, with a cross-field wind.

When they met in the league last October, Ennis only just had their noses ahead by two points at the final whistle so both teams knew that they had to be at their best to lift the title on offer. Ennis lost the toss and UL Bohemians elected to receive the ball.
Ennis got their first scoreable chance after just five minutes when Bohemians were penalised for offside at the breakdown. David Mescall, who has been one of the top kickers in the competition, lined his shot up but the wind took it across the face of the posts and wide.
From the restart, Bohemian’s outside-centre made a great 60m break deep into the Ennis 22, only to be stopped by Conor Cahill, with the help of some team-mates, scrambling back to cover. Ennis were pinned back on their line for the next five minutes but they were resolute in defence, with Jack Colleran and Conor Sheehy to the fore in the tight encounters. Mescall finally got a clearing kick away to ease the pressure after a five-metre scrum. Due to the lottery nature of line-outs at this level, where there is no lifting allowed, UL Bohemians’ tactic of shortening their lineout to a three man was very astute and with some slight variations, it gave them clean possession for their backs to run out wide. Although Ennis struggled in this facet of play, they were up to the challenge in defence, with centres Ronan Cahill and Luke Carmody and wings Cormac McGann and Mark Cabey putting the tackles in to halt Bohemians’ onslaught.
With the game ebbing and flowing, Ennis were the first to score just before half-time when, after a pre-planned move from the base of a scrum 15 metres out, number eight Niall O’Brien picked and broke though the stretched defensive line to touch down close to the posts. Mescall converted for full points just before the whistle.
The second half restarted with an even more determined Bohemians springing into attack. Ennis held them at bay until 10 minutes into the half when, even after some great goalline tackling, the Bohemians number seven picked from a ruck close to the line and went over unopposed. The resultant conversion drew the match seven points all. For the rest of the half, both teams just couldn’t get on top. However, with seven minutes left on the clock, Ennis got the best scoring chance of the day when they were awarded a penalty close to the Bohemians’ posts and inside the 22 but, after taking a quick tap and go, they were stopped short where Bohs turned possession over and relieved their line with a kick downfield.
Ennis had some outstanding performances from Alan Culligan, Catal Talty, Ronan Corey, Eoin Leen and Mark Fitzgerald in the forwards while Darragh Ó’Sé was in control at scrum-half, with outhalf David Mescall playing a pivotal role leading his backs.
The replay will take place at 12.30pm at St Senan’s pitch on Sunday.

Ennis panel: C Cahill, C McGann (I Ugwueru), L Carmody, R Cahill, M Cabey, D Mescall (1 con), D Ó Sé, M Fitzgerald, J Colleran, C Sheehy, E Leen, R Corey, C Talty, N O’Brien (1 try), A Culligan; E Ó Ceallaigh, E Grace, D Kirwan, S Knox, T Hannon, S Magliocco, R Fitzpartick, C Chapman, J Hartigan, S Hogan, D Kelly, C Keogh, B Monahan, M Haugh, G Kelly, A Cleland and B Rynne

Ennis reach U-15s league final
Ennis:          15 
Newport      7
Ennis won their way into the U15 league final with this hard-fought battle against a very tough and well disciplined Newport side.
When the two sides met in the earlier stages of the league, Ennis won by the slimmest of margins and knew that the semi-final was going to be no different.
Ennis dominated most of the exchanges from the kick-off and their powerful pack managed to gain the upper hand in most of the earlier scrums. Alan Britchfield zcontinuously crossed the gain line and was ably assisted by Darragh Ryan and Jason Smith.
The return of Sam Skerrit in the second row also helped Ennis to disrupt Newport’s lineout but despite their dominance in the forwards, the Ennis back line spurned some of the earlier opportunities and it wasn’t until the 20th minute of play that second row Liam Halpin forced his way over to register the first try of the game. This was not converted and there was no further score in the first half.
After the turnaround, Newport came more and more into the game but good pressure from Oisín Kelly and David Flynn kept the visitors on the back foot. Loose head prop Stephen Burke, returning after injury, proved his worth once again as he pounced on a spill from the Newport back line after a probing kick by out-half Michael Lyons. Burke picked the ball and drove powerfully over the line to give Ennis their second try. Within five minutes of the restart, a Newport kick for touch bounced awkwardly, allowing their winger a straight run through for a converted try and bringing them right back into the game.
A further break by Newport saw their centre heading for what seemed to be a certain try but a magnificent tackle by full-back Shay Malone saved the day. Ennis upped their workrate again and with 10 minutes remaining, David Flynn, who had another magnificent game, crossed the Newport line for the insurance score.
Ennis will play Presentation from Limerick in the final on a date and venue to be confirmed.

Ennis: Jason Smith, Darragh Ryan, Stephen Burke, Liam Halpin, Sam  Skerritt, Alan Britchfield, Oisín Kelly, David Flynn, Mikey Clinton, Michael Lyons, Lorcan Casey, Paudie Carmody, Karl Cullinane, David Reynolds, Brian Malone.
Replacements: Shay Malone (for Brian Malone), Liam McCarthy(for Sam Skerritt), Cillian O’Gormain, Conall Curtin, Rob Austin, David Buggy, Matthew Fahy, Barry Heagney, Ross Kelly, Aaron Leyden, Tiernan McDermott, David McDonnell, Caolain Meaney, Luke Ryan, Aidan Rayman, Lee Regan, Jordan Ryan, Adrian Walsh, Demyd Yatsenko.

First tournament for U-11s
Ennis U-11s took part in their first tournament last Saturday with a trip to Willow Park in Dublin for the 30th Fr Gavin rugby festival. The festival consisted of 66 teams in total from the best-known rugby schools and clubs.
Forty-four players in total travelled, giving Ennis three teams in the tournament, each team consisting of five forwards and six backs and subs.
The first round of games pitted the teams against Naas, Young Munster, Willow Park, Athy, CBC Monkstown, Willow Blues, Bective, St Conleth’s and Willow Lions.
All the teams fared well and it was good to see how they have progressed during the year. Some of the tackling was impressive and their positional play had improved considerably.
After lunch, the Ennis teams faced three more games against different opposition. This time, they played Naas, St Mary’s, Stradbrook, Tullamore, Willow Sharks, UL Bohs, St Michael’s and Pres Bray.
Once again, the Ennis teams fared well and all teams finished very strongly. All participants were presented with a medal for participating.

Ennis B: Noel Shannon, Dale Watson, Luke Kelly, Cillian Casey, Ronin Liddy, Eoghan O’Brien, Dillon Power, JJ Carraig, Cormac Whelan, Fionn O’Brien, Charlie Whelan, Cormac Reidy, Emmet McMahon, Fergus Garvey and Conor McMahon.
Ennis C1: Ceallum Browne, Dan Geraghty, Ali Hussain, Cormac Brown, Ryan Barry, Daniel Kelly, Jack Hassett, Conor Hogan, Eamon O’Regan, Alex Coughlan, Stephen McMahon, Dara Curren and Cian McNulty.
Ennis C2: Jordan Howard, Brendan Cleland, Adam Harvey, Eoghan Hahessy, Ben Sullivan, Bruce Piggot, Robert O’Connell, Dillon Hayes, Matt Hanrahan, Alex McConway, Oisín Brennan, Nathan Stackpool, Conan McLeod and Patrick Scanlon.

U-12s travel to Kilfeakle
Last Sunday, Ennis U-12s travelled to the Kilfeakle tournament, which also involved Waterpark. The blitz was organised into two tiers, with Kilfeakle, Waterpark and two Ennis sides in each tier.
The sun continued to shine through the morning and this ensured some great, open, running rugby. In the second tier, Ennis found the opening exchanges a little tough and with both sides playing two games each, a win-one, lose-one each was a fair result, with a significant improvement in the second round of games. Edward Purcell, Aidan Jordan, Conall Bolger, JP Neville, Gavin Flynn, Gavin Carr, Shane Vaughan, Paul Tuohy and Gavin Cosgrove shone for the Ennis side with Jordan and Cosgrove scoring a hat-trick of tries each.
In the top side of the blitz, there were a number of very high tempo games. Ennis Red were first to take on Kilfeakle while Ennis Black played Waterpark.
Ennis Red conceded early and while applying pressure, an intercept try by Kilfeakle left the score at two tries to nil at half-time. The second half continued as the first ended, with Ennis putting on pressure through Stephen Dolan and Harry Talty but they could not get over the line and the game finished on a scoreline of three tries to nil to the hosts.
Ennis Black hit the ground running against Waterpark, with Oisín Mangan’s early try followed up with quick scores from Eoin Clancy and Morgan Garry. Ennis kept the ball from Waterpark and when Joseph Connaughton went in for try number four with a well-worked backs move, there was no return for the Waterford side. 
Three more tries followed – two for James Nugent and another for Morgan Garry, leaving a final score of seven tries to one, which was well deserved by Ennis.
The second round of matches started with Ennis Red playing Waterpark and while conceding early  and with Ross O’Flaherty and Aaron Hennessey leading from the front, Ennis went on to win the game with a hat-trick of tries from Philip Talty and another by Shane Brennan, who led the line well from out-half Gerard Kavanagh and Marc Barry also did well.
However, the best was held for last in a game between Ennis Black and the hosts. Kilfeakle are arguably the top side in Munster at U-12, having recently won the Bruff tournament.
The skill levels and physicality was a step up from any game this team has played before.
However, Ennis took the game to Kilfeakle and after some six phases of play, a break by Oisín Mangan saw him give a sublime pass to his half-back counterpart Joseph Connaughton to give Ennis a deserved lead at half-time. In the second half, Kilfeakle eventually penetrated the Ennis defence to score. The game finished on a one-all scoreline.

Ennis Black: Eoin Clancy, Darragh Slattery, Martin McCormack, James Nugent, Jack O’Reilly, Elias Kunz, Eldon Nolan, Oisín Mangan, Joseph Connaughton, David McNamara, Frank Roche, Morgan Garry, Jack Hanrahan
Ennis Red: Aaron Hennessey, Stephen Dolan, James Baker, Harry Talty, Liam Wall, Barry Neylon, Ross O’Flaherty, Conall Kellegher, Marc Barry, Shane Brennan, Philip Talty, Gerard Kavanagh.
The members of Ennis’ other  teams were Edward Purcell, Aidan Jordan, Conall Bolger, Ian Malone, JP Neville, Luke Griffey, Orrin Moore, Gavin Flynn, Sean Andreassen, Joe Spellesy, Ben Leyden, Liam Cosgrove, Shane Vaughan, Eanna O’Donoghue, Paul Tuohy, Conor Mahony, Gavin Cosgrove, Oisín O’Looney, Conor Grogan, Gavin Flynn, Turlough Barrett, Zak McDonagh,  Sam Hynes.

Great day for U-9s
Thirty-seven players travelled to Kilfeakle on Sunday for what turned out to be a great day for the club’s U-9s. The opposition was Kilfeakle and Waterpark and the Ennis squad was divided up into three teams – Green, White and Orange.
Ennis Green started against Waterpark and Ennis White started against Kilfeakle while Ennis Orange then took on Waterpark in an extremely competitive game.

Ennis U-9 Green: Cillian Brennan, Dara Nagle, Joseph Rafferty, Rory O’Connell, John Connaughton, Jarlath Collins, Eoghan Talty, Cian Lahiffe, Matthew McNamara, Nicki Hardiman, Matthew McGrath, Finn Woods.
Ennis U-9 White: Joe Boyle, Colin Rynne, Liam Keating, Cillian Warner, James Curran, Charlie McGuinness, Keith Barry, Conor Boyle, Stephen McSherry, Peader McNelis, Roan O’Flatherty, Oscar O’Gorman, Colm Hynes.
Ennis U-9 Orange: Michael Meaney, Saul Young, Cian O’Dwyer, Liam Mahoney, Ronan Lynch, Ronan Mescall, Fionn O’Connor, Jason Considine, Ronan Crosse, Arron Lilis, Sebastian McMahon, Adrian Baker.