Scariff tough it out for victory

Scariff 10 Dungarvan 6

 

Scariff were victorious in a hard and physical battle with Dungarvan to maintain top spot in the third division of the junior league
Robbie Madden scored the game’s only try, which was converted by James Kelly, while Madden also landed a drop-goal.
Scariff dominated most of the play and deserved the win. The score difference would have been higher only for numerous handling errors at critical moments from Scariff, while credit must go to an extremely well-drilled and tough Dungarvan defence.
Scariff went ahead very early in the game, with good attaching play from both forwards and backs.
With the ball being spread wide from a ruck, Madden saw an opening in the defence and slipped through it to score under the posts. James Kelly converted.
Dungarvan then responded with a penalty. More pressure from Scariff led to a drop-goal opportunity for Robbie Madden, which he duly slotted home.
Another penalty from Dungarvan left the score 10-6 at the break. The score was to remain like this throughout the second half.
The Dungarvan defence was very good in the second half, denying Scariff a further score. Dungarvan did threaten but never looked like crossing the Scariff line.
Scariff will travel to Fermoy this week for a fixture, which is expected to prove their toughest test to date.

Scariff: Joe McGrath, Bernard McGrath, Paul McTiernan, Dara McNamara (capt), Rory Slattery, Patrick Minogue, Hugh Molloy, Robbie Madden, Tom Cronin, James Kelly, Barry Gibbons, Eoghan Collins, Kenny Mason, Trevor Kelly, Conor McNamara.
Replacements: Darren McNamara, David Harte, Ger Maguire, Steve Madden, Denis O’Grady, Henry Purcell, Joe Brody.

Kilrush 20 Bantry Bay 0

Kilrush recorded a comprehensive win over Bantry Bay from West Cork at Monmore on Sunday.
Paul Conway was responsible for the home side’s scores in the first half when he had a try, which he converted, while he also added a penalty to lead at half-time on a score of 10-0.
In the second half, Brian Johnson and Ben Hopkins each scored a try to seal a convincing win for the West Clare side, who will travel to play Dungarvan this Sunday.

Kilrush: Pádraig O’Malley, Mark Hough, David Smith, Martin Hehir, Martin Griffin, Ben Hopkins, Calum Bond, Brian Johnson, Ray Conway, Paul Conway, John O’Neill, John Conway, Pat Cussen, David Egan, Brian Saunders.
Subs: Stephen Pender for John O’Neill; David Kavanagh for Mark Hough.

In the North Munster U-17 league, Scariff were 26 to 12 winners over Kilrush at the East Clare club’s venue while in the U-14 league, NewcastleWest were 34 to 26 winners over Kilrush at NewcastleWest.

St Senan’s 16 Old Christians 14

With Old Christians just one point ahead of them in the league, this was a game Senan’s needed to win to stop them falling too far behind the teams above them.
The early exchanges suggested that it might be a disappointing day for the Shannon side as Old Christians opened their account with a well-struck penalty kick after just one minute. Throughout the first half, St Senan’s struggled to contain a confident Old Christians pack, who drove forward time after time. This pressure forced Senan’s to concede a number of penalties. Christians converted a second penalty after 13 minutes and drove over Senan’s line for a try after 25 minutes. When Christians converted their third penalty with the last kick of the half, Senan’s went into the break trailing 14-0.
The Clare side’s fortunes changed in the second half, as they seemed to find more time and space to move the ball around and take the game to the visitors. They were rewarded after seven minutes when they reduced the deficit with a well-struck penalty by Declan Collins.
Further good play by Senan’s forwards saw them having more of the ball and they began to gain in confidence. They were further rewarded with another well struck penalty by Collins after 18 minutes and a further one on 25 minutes, reducing the visitors’ lead to 9-14.
Having pulled back the visitors to within striking distance, Senan’s showed great composure in possession, driving deep into the visitors half. This confident play paid dividends for them when, on 36 minutes, Aaron Skerritt found a gap in the Christians’ defence to score a try which, when converted by Declan Collins, gave the home side a 16-14 lead. Senan’s held firm for the last few minutes and took the winning points.
This victory moves Senan’s up the league table and they look forward to welcoming Waterpark to Jimmy Slattery Park this Sunday when the kick-off will be at 2:30pm.

St Senan’s: David Dunne, Barry Murphy, Chris Sloan, Ronan O’Callaghan, Brian Collins, Declan Collins, Darragh McCoy, Ian Fitzgerald, Duane Horkin, Paul O’Halloran, Aidan O’Callaghan, Aaron Skerritt, Timmy Larkin, Fergal Lawlor, Tony O’Brien.
Replacements: Gerard McNamara, Diarmuid Hughes, Gary Crowe, Ed Slattery, David Webb.

Ennis 14 Bandon 6

Ennis scored their first win of the league (Division 2) when they defeated Bandon at Ennis on Sunday and, in the process, deprived the Cork side of a bonus point
The home side played against the wind in the first half but they defended well. Bandon took the lead when they converted a penalty after 15 minutes.
Ten minutes later the sides were level after Bryan Murphy landed a penalty for Ennis.
Just before half-time, Bandon kicked another penalty to re-take the lead and this left the score at 6-3 at the break.
Ennis started the second half strongly and forced Bandon into mistakes. Bryan Murphy converted a penalty to level the scores.
The home side won another two penalties in the next 10 minutes but Murphy failed to find the target.
Fifteen minutes from the end Ennis won possession from a line-out and after a few phases of play, Niall Nevin went in for a try in the corner. The conversion was missed.
Ennis continued to pile on the pressure and won another penalty and this time Murphy found the target to ensure a first league victory for his side, who travel to Charleville this week for their next league tie.

Ennis: Eric McInerney, Thionn Van Rooyan, Brian Farrell, Pa Harding, Enda Galvin, Sean McCormack, Gearóid Crowd, Damian Forde, Brian Dolan, Bryan Murphy, Niall Nevin David Murphy, Dylan Tynan O’Mahoney, Saran Butler, Andrew O’Neill.
Replacements: Mike McInerney for McCormack; Noel Downes for O’Neill.

Gearóid plays for Combined Universities

Gearóid Crowe, a product of the Ennis RFC’s youths club system, played for a combined universities selection against UCD last Friday in a game organised to mark the Dublin side’s centenary.
A student at NUI, Galway, Gearóid was in the back row for Ennis on Sunday when they won their first league game of the season.