1st XV Claim Another Bonus Point Win

Enniskillen 1XV 38
Carrickfergus 1XV 5

Enniskillen 1st XV continued their run of superb form with a ruthless and clinical performance against the visiting Carrickfergus last Saturday. It was a wet and windy day at Mullaghmeen but the game was surprisingly expansive with the Enniskillen back line moving the ball well to deadly effect, Mark O’Shea and Alex Parke cutting the visiting defence to shreds, with Parke claiming two tries, while the forwards, not to be outdone, made multiple line breaks and well executed offloads to leave the visiting defence scrambling for most of the contest, man of the match Josh Kennedy making linebreaks in open play through some excellent support lines while disrupting the opposition line out throughout. This along with another ferocious scrummaging performance from the pack effectively killed Carrick’s hopes of building any foundation off set piece, as penalties came Enniskillen’s way off the back of a devastating scrum. One penalty try from the scrum and two short range scores from Gavin Warrington and Jamie Kelly rounding off a solid performance from the forwards.
Skins started strong as they collected the kick off and battered the visiting defence with Buchanan and Rutledge testing the tacklers. The back line didn’t see much of the ball in the early stages apart from a few surging runs from Himi Manuel at 12. Penalties quickly came Enniskillen’s way at the scrum and Maguire kicked Skins into the Carrick half where a well constructed maul brought play close to the try line, breaking down into pick and go’s it was Gavin Warrington who crossed the line for the first score, unconverted to lead 0-5.
Good defensive pressure led to more handling errors from Carrick and, with the scrum in the ascendency, penalties continued to come Enniskillen’s way, securing plenty of territory. A period of scrummaging pressure on the Carrick line and repeated penalties gave the referee no choice but to award a penalty try, increasing the lead to 12-0.
The backs featured more now as Enniskillen grew in confidence and a wonderfully worked move off the back of the scrum as Carleton picked from eight and passed to Nick Finlay who fed Alex Parke slicing through for a score, converted by Maguire to go in 19-0 at the end of the first half.
Skins started well in the second half undoubtedly hoping to claim the bonus point and show their form for 80 minutes. Penalties again left Carrick pinned in their own half and dogged defence and pressure on the visitors on their own line forced a fumble as they tried to clear their lines and Nick Finlay pounced to pick up the bonus point score, unconverted to lead 24-0.
The visitors got on the scoreboard now after a crafty blindside break down the wing bringing them deep inside the Skins 22’, and the scrambling defence was caught short on the blindside once more as the visiting winger crossed for an unconverted score, 24-5.
Frustrated with their rare defensive error Enniskillen quickly regained their form as Gavin Parke and Alan Ferguson made a good impact off the bench. Some magic from John Maguire increased the scoreline as he delivered a pinpoint kick pass into the arms of Mark O’Shea who broke down the wing at pace before delivering a perfectly timed pass to a supporting Alex Parke to pick up his second under the posts, converted to go 31-5 up.
The forwards continued to break the line in open play and looked excellent with ball in hand, their pass and offload game spectacular given the conditions. Eventually they were nearing the line yet again and Jamie Kelly crossed for the final score, ending proceedings at an impressive 38-5.
It was a complete performance from Enniskillen who backed up their recent form with a clinical and determined performance. Halfback pairing Finlay and Maguire were steady hands at the helm and the backline continued to look dangerous in attack and hard to breach in defence, Jack Harte at 13 continuing to marshall the line well. The pack went to another level this week in open play, set piece and defensive pressure.
It is still early days for Enniskillen with plenty of rugby yet to play but they remain in an excellent position, sitting in the top four of the league with a cup final set for January. This Saturday they travel to a downtrodden Portadown, but they are a side who have always been fond of causing an upset against Enniskillen and would love to spoil their run of form.