Impressive U-16 performance for Ennis

Ennis         35          Kilrush       0
Ennis recorded an impressive victory in their second game of the U-16 league, played at the Showgrounds last Sunday. The bigger Ennis pack dominated the opening exchanges and took an early lead when a penalty for a high tackle on out-half Michael Lyons was converted by Oisín Kelly.

 

Ennis continued to dominate the set pieces and despite promising breaks from Stephen Burke, David Flynn and Paudie Carmody, they failed to capitalise on their territorial dominance. Kilrush continued to defend strongly and occasionally threatened with breaks from their backs but good tackling from Jason Smith, David Reynolds and Lorcan Casey ensured they did not breach the Ennis defence.

After the half-time break Ennis channelled more of the play through the centre and this immediately yielded dividends as they stretched the visitor’s defence and after moving the ball along the backline, created a gap for Paudie Carmody to go over for the game’s first try.  This was not converted. Five minutes later, Ennis had won a scrum on the Kilrush 5m line. The ball was picked from the back and carried over the line by Alan Birtchfield, giving the home team a 13-0 lead and a bit of breathing space. Further tries from Sam Skerrit, Alan Birtchfield (his second) and Michael Lyons confirmed Ennis’ victory. The final points came from a drop goal from Michael Lyons.

Ennis: Demyd Yatsenko, Oisín Kelly, Stephen Burke, Liam Halpin, Sam Skerritt, Stephen Burke, David Flynn, Alan Britchfield, Mikey Clinton, Michael Lyons, Lorcan Casey, Paudie Carmody, David Reynolds, Darragh Ryan, Conal Curtin, Jordan Ryan, Cillian O’Gormain, Caolain Meaney, David Buggy.

Easy for U-14s

Ennis     51      Thomond    0

Ennis U-14s made light work of a depleted Thomond in their league fixture last Sunday at the Showgrounds, running out easy victors. Played in soft conditions, Ennis went about Thomond’s demise from the kick-off and within three minutes Alan Culligan had crossed the line after some great support work in the forwards. Ennis were well on top in the forwards and after eight minutes, Ennis’ number eight and captain, Niall O’Brien, busted through a retreating Thomond defence to score his team’s second unconverted try.

Thomond’s poor restarts were not helping their cause and with Ennis’ forwards causing them problems with some straight lines of attack coupled with excellent support play and rucking, they dominated both territory and possession.

After some direct attacking down the right, the ball was released to the backs and, with swift hands out to Stephen Hogan, he adjusted his line of running to cut through and touch down just left of the posts. Darragh O’Shea took over the kicking duties and converted. Within two minutes, Ronan Corey crossed the line after taking a great line of support off Alan Culligan’s half break and O’Shea was on the mark again for full points. Just before the half ended Luke Carmody belted down the left wing to score his first of the day.

Ennis made wholesale changes at half-time, with Jason Warren and Aidan Cleland coming into the front row, JJ Baker into the second row, Mark Cabey on the wing with Hogan moving out wide to accommodate a reorganised 10/12 pairing of Kealan Butler and Ikem Ugweru.

On the resumption, Thomond showed some great spirit to take the game back to Ennis but the home side settled back into their rhythm and gradually got on top in the possession stakes. Scrum half Darragh O’Shea scored in the left corner after a dodging run through traffic and a final 20m sprint.

Then Carmody stamped his authority on the game with two converted tries in quick succession to complete his hat-trick, with O’Shea converting one. In the final play of the day, Carmody again made a break to put Mark Cabey in at the corner to complete the scoring.

The U-14s now take a break for Christmas, with four wins and two losses in the league campaign keeps them well in contention. They will resume training on January 3.

Ennis: C Cahill, E Grace, L Carmody, S Hogan, K Butler, I Ugweru, D Ó’Shea, M Fitzgerald, J Colleran, T Hannon, R Corey, E Leen, C Talty, A Culligan, N O’Brien, E Timlin, A Cleland, M Cabey, C Chapman, J Warren, J Hartigan, JJ Baker and C Sheedy.