Senan’s retain status with bonus point win

Clonmel        5
St Senan’s   31

St Senan’s travelled to Thurles last weekend knowing a win would secure Munster Junior League Division 1 status for next season and a bonus point win would see them finish in the top half of the league table.

With all this at stake, it was a very nervous start by Senan’s that saw 10 minutes elapse before they mounted a meaningful attack into Thurles territory.
This resulted in Declan Collins hitting a well-struck drop-goal to open up a 3-0 lead.
Despite this score, neither side settled into a rhythm and could not create any further scoring opportunities, except for an extremely difficult penalty attempt by St Senan’s, which Declan Collins pulled left of the uprights.
The Clare side started the second half in a more determined mood and looked to have added to their scoreline when Ian Fitzgerald broke from the back of a scrum, only for the ball to be knocked on just short of the line.
This near miss gave Senan’s belief and two minutes later they won a scrum just 15 metres out from the try line. Eamonn O’Donoghue crashed over the line to score the winner’s first try, Declan Collins was on target with the conversion kick, giving Senan’s a 10-0 lead.
Senan’s continued to pressurise Thurles and 20 minutes into the half Dylan Sonneman intercepted a Thurles pass to run in Senan’s second try and once again Declan Collins converted to extend the lead to 17-0.
On the half-hour mark, Ian Fitzgerald again took the ball off the back of the scrum and this time touched down to score their third try. Declan Collins added the conversion to give Senan’s a 24-0 lead.
With victory in sight, Senan’s focus turned to chasing a fourth try, which would secure the bonus point try and give them a top-half league finish.
With just five minutes to go, a quick tap and run by Ian Fitzgerald saw him offload to Dylan Sonneman, who in turn offloaded to Fernando Gallant, allowing him to run in 30 metres to add the bonus point try, much to the delight of the travelling St Senan’s supporters.
Declan Collins made no mistake with the conversion, giving Senan’s an unassailable 31-0 lead. A last-minute consolation try by Thurles could not suppress the Senan’s celebrations, as they ran out 31-5 winners.

St Senan’s: Pa Ryan, Fergal Lawlor, Tony O’Brien, Aaron Skerritt, Eamonn O’Donoghue, Ian Fitzgerald, Mike O’Connell, Jamie Keogh, Darragh McCoy, Declan Collins, Neil McDonagh, Dylan Sonneman, Brian Collins, Fernando Gallant, Barry Murphy.
Replacements: David Webb, Michael Cusack, Eoghan McNeill, Gary Crowe, Jake Egan, David Dunne.

Muskerry   18
Scariff       10
Scariff went down 18-10 away to Muskerry last Sunday afternoon in this Division 2 league tie at the Cork club’s venue.
The Clare side started strongly, with a try from Tom Cronin after five minutes, after good work from Conor McNamara. The try was converted by Cronin, leaving the score 7-0. However, lack of concentration and poor defence let Muskerry back into the game and the Cork side spent the rest of the half in the Scariff 22, putting the Scariff scrum under a lot of pressure.
Despite all their efforts, Muskerry only came away with three points, leaving the score 7-3 at the break. This should have given Scariff the motivation to go on the attack from the start of the second half but they did not get out of the blocks and conceded two very soft tries within 10 minutes of the restart.
It was only then that Scariff began to play with some consistency and were unlucky not to go over for a second try. With two minutes to go, Scariff were awarded a penalty and it was converted by Tom Cronin, leaving the score 15-10 with 90 seconds on the clock.
However, a mix-up in defence from the kick-off put Scariff under pressure and a penalty was conceded, leaving the final score 18-10.
Scariff come away form this game without any points, leaving them in the middle of a relegation battle with three of the top four teams yet to play. Newcastlewest visit Craven’s Field this Sunday with promotion in their sights.

Scariff: Joe McGrath, Colin Bugler, David Harte, Marcus O’Neill, Darragh McNamara (capt), Conor Minogue, Darren McNamara, Robbie Madden, Tom Cronin, James Kelly, Steven Madden, Eoghan Collins, Seamus Noonan, Kenny Mason, Conor McNamara.
Replacements: Rory Slattery, Paul O’Mahony, Niall Bugler, Henry Purcil, Trevor Kelly, Michael Madden.

Ennis        6
Youghal  6
Given that Ennis went into this game without a number of first-choice players due to injury, a situation that resulted in team boss Richard Murphy lining out at full-back, a share of the spoils was a good outcome.
Youghal had the better of the first half and took the lead after 10 minutes when they landed a penalty. They added another 15 minutes later.
As the first half drew to a close, Ennis improved and they were rewarded with a penalty from David Murphy that left the score at 6-3 at half-time.
The visitors had the better of matters for much of the second half and kept Ennis  in their own 22 but, to the credit of the home side, they defended well. Fifteen minutes from time, Ennis mounted an attack that led to a penalty and David Murphy again found the target to level the game.

Ennis: Richard Murphy, Barry Glesson, Damian O’Connor, Paul Lynch, Frank Coffey, David Murphy, Keelan Flynn, Conor Mahoney, Jason Considine, Enda Galvin, Dara Killeen, Frank Holly, Joe Moloney, Liam Ryan, Kieran Reid.
Subs: Colm Brandon for O’Connor; Damian Ford for Lynch; Dara Commane for Reid; Derek Farrell for Holly.