No joy in home advantage for Clare rugby sides

Three Clare junior rugby sides all suffered defeat on Sunday in home league ties that each could have done better in.

St Senan’s produced, arguably, their best performance of the season against the title holders and current Division 1 leaders, Richmond and were most unlucky not to have got something from the game.
East Clare outfit Scariff suffered their first home loss in the Division 3 league.

Richmond 17   St Senan’s 5

First Division league leaders and defending champions, Richmond were made fight all the way for this victory over St Senan’s at Slattery Park on Sunday.

The Shannon club suffered a major blow in the opening minutes when they lost big second row forward MJ McDonagh with a serious leg injury. Things went from bad to worse when the visitors, in what was their first attack, got through for a try under the posts from Gearoid Phelan, which was converted by Brian Mullins.

They followed up a few minutes later with a try from Jonathon Tully when he blocked down Darragh McCoy’s attempted clearance from the back of a ruck.

At this early stage, it appeared as if Richmond would have the bonus point secure by half time but from here on St Senan’s played some of their best rugby of the season.

St Senan’s were dealt another blow just before half time when Stephen Ryan was yellow carded. On his return the Shannon outfit won a penalty and kicked for the corner. From the resultant line out the ball was moved across the line and the forwards drove towards the line. After a series of attacks the ball came to Ryan and he drove over for a well-deserved try.

At this stage Richmond had a player yellow carded but St Senan’s efforts to capitalise didn’t materialise due to some handling errors and wrong options. As the game moved towards injury time, the visitors won a penalty that they took quickly and this led to a third try for them that made the result safe.

St Senan’s were bitterly disappointed not to have got a losing bonus point. This result combined with the fact that the other struggling teams in Division 1, Crosshaven and Waterpark, winning puts serious pressure on the Clare side to avoid the drop to Division 2.

St Senan’s: Davy Dunne; Aidan McMahon, Diarmuid McMahon, Declan Collins, Brian Collins; Philip Noone, Darragh McCoy; Ian Fitzgerald, Damian Keogh, Eamonn O’Donoghue; MJ McDonagh, Aaron Skerritt; Michael Lynch, Fergal Lawlor, Pa Ryan.
Subs: Stephen Ryan, Neil McDonagh, Jake Egan.

Ennis 8   Bandon 13

Ennis suffered a disappointing defeat at home in the league, losing to a strong Bandon side on Sunday.

The heavy conditions dictated that this game was always going to be won up front.

Ennis played against the elements in the first half and from the start they were under pressure with all the play in their half.

Bandon had a well organised pack and from a strong scrum won a penalty that was converted, giving the visitors an early lead

From the restart Bandon used the conditions and kicked themselves deep into the Ennis half. Again, after good work from the Bandon pack they won another penalty that was easily converted, doubling their advantage.

Midway through the half, Ennis began to play with more intensity and worked their way up the field. Ennis controlled the play well against the elements. Their good play was rewarded with a penalty 20 meters out. Outhalf David Murphy converted to leave the score at 6-3 in favour of the Cork club at half time.

From the restart Ennis put the pressure on Bandon and made several breaks but failed to convert the final pass to score.

Bandon gained confidence from their solid defence and managed to work their way up the field.
Ennis seemed to drop a gear and Bandon took full advantage of this. With 15 minutes to go the winner’s forwards, following a few pick and drives, went over for a good team try. The conversion was successful leaving the score 13 to 3 for Bandon.

Ennis knew that they had to score quick and applied the pressure. From a break down the line replacement prop Noel Downes kicked ahead and offloaded to winger Dylan Tynan Mahony for a well worked try. The conversion was narrowly missed leaving the score at 13-8.

Ennis kept the pressure on for the last few minutes but could not break the Bandon line.

Due to injury, Ennis were unable to call on a number of first choice front row players. On Sunday Jason Considine, Bryan Dolan, Kelan Flynn worked hard throughout while Philly Molloy and Noel Downes also did well.

Ennis: Joe Moloney Evan Lewis Philly Molloy; Dara Killeen, Jason Considine; Kelan Flynn Bryan Dolan Damien Forde; Cian Guilfoyle David Murphy; Frank Coffey Niall Nevin John Moore Shaun O’Flanagan; Conor Dolan.
Replacements: David O’Connor Noel Downes Patrick Harding Dylan Tynan O’Mahony Saran Butler.

Ballincollig 8   Scariff 0

Cork side Ballincollig came to Scariff on Sunday for this  Division 3 league tie and, thanks to a try as early as the third minute and a penalty late in the second half, they returned to Leeside with the league points.

The result marked Scariff’s first home league defeat in the Division 3 league.

It was a game Scariff could have won as they had the upper hand at scrum and lineout time but were unable to convert this into scores on the board. The underfoot conditions were heavy and the wind and rain meant that the game was played tight in the forwards for most of the 80 minutes.

The Scariff backs had a lot of bad handling errors even allowing for the conditions and this is a area that will have to be improved on if future results are to go their way.

Scariff’s next game is in the league, away to Douglas, on Sunday February 17.

Scariff: Joe McGrath, Bernard McGrath, David Harte, Darragh McNamara, Donal Moloney, Henry Purcell, Darren McNamara, Conor Minogue, Paul O’Sullivan, Robbie Madden, Eoin Collins, Steven Madden, Ger Burke, Adrian Burke, Conor McNamara.
Subs used: Paul McTiernan, Michael Noonan, Kenny Mason, Tyrone Elliot, Colin McNamara.

Webb Cup
Interestingly, St Senan’s have been drawn to play Kilrush in the first round of the Webb Cup, a date for which has not yet been announced.