Scariff still on track in Munster Junior Cup

Scariff progressed to the next round of the Munster Junior Cup when they defeated Douglas on Saturday but Ennis bowed out of the race when they went down to Shannon.

The East Clare side’s win has earned them a place in the fourth round on this Sunday when they will travel to play division 1 opposition in Kilfeackle. It will be a huge challenge for the East Clare side.

Douglas 15
Scariff 22

Scariff laid the foundations for their win in the first half when they ran up a 22-0 lead. Playing with the aid of a strong breeze in the first half, Scariff dominated the exchanges and took the lead when James Kelly landed a penalty.
They increased their lead when Patrick Minogue went over for a try which Kelly converted. An unconverted try followed from Conor McNamara before Robbie Madden has the visitor’s third try, which Kelly converted to push them 22-0 in front.
On the changeover, Scariff struggled against the stiff wind and the home side hit back strongly. The visitors defended stoutly, however and managed to keep the Douglas tally down and deservingly finish ahead.
This week, they face a much stiffer test against a very experienced Kilfeackle who are currently near the top in division 1. They are one of the most experienced junior sides in Munster rugby and will be fancied to get to the latter stages of this competition.
Challenging strongly for division 3 league honours, Scariff will travel to the Tipperary club’s venue determined to further highlight that they have made a lot of progress in recent times. While they are likely to make Kilfeackle battle all the way for victory, it will be a major surprise if the East Clare outfit cause an upset.

Scariff: David Harte, Bernard McGrath, Paul McTiernan; Darragh McNamara, Rory Slattery; Patrick Minogue, Robbie Madden, Joe Brody; Tomas Cronin, James Kelly; Barry Gibbons, Stevie Madden, Owen Collins, Trevor Kelly; Conor McNamara.
Subs: Joe McGrath, Colin Bugler, Darren McNamara, Kenny Mason, Henry Purcell.

Ennis 14
Shannon 18

A tendancy to concede penalties when in a strong position, cost Ennis dearly at home on Sunday. All of the winners’ scores came from penalties with Ben Sargent converting six.
The home side were slow to settle and didn’t put pressure on the visitors in the early stages. It was 3-3 at half time with Sargent and Bryan Murphy swapping penalties.
The home side’s performance improved in the second half but when they got a score, they conceded a penalty almost immediately which proved costly.
Murphy put the home side 6-3 ahead with his second penalty but they immediately conceded a similar opportunity to the visitors which Sargent scored. Murphy again landed a penalty to edge the home side 9-6 ahead but, again, they failed to build on this. In the next 15 minutes the visitors landed three penalties to go 15-9 in front.
Ennis put together a good move which ended with Niall Nevin going in for a try in the corner and this brought the score to 14-15 with only a few minutes remaining.
As Ennis went in search of a score that would put them ahead, they conceded another penalty which Sargent again converted to seal victory for the visiting Limerick club.
Ennis will return to league action on March 6 with an away fixture against Galbally.

Ennis: Dylan Tynan O’Mahony; Niall McMahon, Niall Nevin, Alan Malone, Cian Clancy; Bryan Murphy, David Murphy, Damian Ford, Conor O’Mahony, Sean McCormack; Jason Considine, Enda Galvin; Michael McInerney, Eric McInerney, Brian Farrell.
Subs: John Queally for Galvin; Thiann Van Rooyan for McCormack.
Shannon: Sean Arthur; James Doran, Leonard Mullane, Len Hogan, Barry Gibbons; Ben Sargent, Paddy Torrie; Jason Cronin, John Deegan, Gary McNamara; Denis Leahy, Sean Duggan; Gordon Birchfield, Chuck Cunnane, Leonard O’Sullivan.

Junior Bowl
Kilrush travel to play Killorglin in the Munster Junior Bowl competition this Sunday.