First league victory for Senan’s

St Senan’s    14       Old Christians    10
ST Senan’s knew going into their league tie against Old Christians, the team just above them in the bottom half of the league table, it was one they needed to take maximum points from.

They also knew it would require great effort and leadership from some of the more senior members of the squad, as due to injuries and other issues they were short of experienced players in some of the key positions.

 

Starting the stronger of the two teams, the Shannon side were rewarded with a penalty in the fourth minute, which Philip Noone converted. St Senan’s struggled to contain Old Christians as they hit back quickly and were unlucky not to convert an eighth-minute penalty.

The visitors continued to put pressure on the St Senan’s defence and after 12 minutes they ran in a try that, when converted, gave them a 7-3 lead.

From the restart, St Senan’s took possession deep in Old Christians’ half and some good play between Brian Collins and Neil McDonagh resulted in Ian Fitzgerald running in a well deserved try. The conversion kick missed the target but Senan’s had regained the advantage with an 8-7 lead.

This lead could have been extended on 19 minutes when, following some good attacking play, Senan’s were awarded a penalty but the kick from Noone slipped by the outside of the uprights.

The remainder of the half followed a similar pattern of attack and counter-attack, with Senan’s having the best of the exchanges but they were unable to break through a strong Christians defence, leaving the score at the break at 8-7 in favour of the home side.

The second half saw an early stoppage for an injury to one of the Christians’ players and when the game restarted, both sides struggled to get back into their play patterns.

The game swung in Christians’ favour in the 15th minute when they were awarded a penalty inside Senan’s 22, which they easily converted, giving them a 10-8 lead.

St Senan’s took control after this and when Aidan McMahon took a high ball and ran at the Christians’ defence he made it into their 22, before his pass out wide was knocked on, denying Senan’s a good scoring opportunity.

Senan’s turned over the Christians’ scrum and were awarded a penalty following an infringement but Noone saw his kick slip by the uprights once again.

This passage of play gave the home side a belief that the game was theirs to win and when Noone was given another penalty to kick on 25 minutes, he put it between the uprights to regain the lead for Senan’s at 11-10.

Senan’s continued to put pressure on the Christians’ defence and when Ian Fitzgerald was dumped by a Christians player, earning him a red card, Noone once again held his nerve to convert the resulting penalty and extend the home side’s lead to 14-10.

This was to be the final scoring opportunity and St Senan’s ran out victors, gaining their first league win of the season.

On Sunday, St Senan’s travel to Limerick to take on St Mary’s, with the kick-off at 2-30pm.

St Senan’s: Aidan McMahon, Ger McNamara, Neil McDonagh, Declan Collins, Jake Egan, Philip Noone, Darragh McCoy, Ian Fitzgerald, Jaymee Keogh, Eamonn O’Donoghue, Stephen Ryan, Trevor Skerritt, Dave Lee, Fergal Lawlor, Michael Lynch.
Replacements: David Webb, Michael John McDonagh, Dermot Fitzgerald, Gary Shaw, David Dunne and Richard Mulcahy.