Skins Lose Away to Dromore

Dromore 1XV 25
Enniskillen 1XV 6

Enniskillen 1XV suffere their first defeat since early November last Saturday as they traveled for a top table clash against league leaders Dromore. Two first half tries from Dromore were answered by two penalties from the boot of Nick Finlay and the game was a one score arm wrestle for much of the remainder until the home side ran in two late tries to claim the bonus point. Skins defended tenaciously throughout against a Dromore side that made very few errors in attack and retained possession for prolonged periods. Enniskillen made good ground at times but often in the wrong area of the pitch with too much to do. The severe wind often rendered the line out a gamble for both sides while the scrum was hard fought throughout, making it difficult for Skins to build pressure.
Dromore came at the Enniskillen defence hard from the start with plenty of big ball carriers in the pack and a strong running 12 to deal with. James Carleton led the defensive line well as usual with some hard hits while centre pairing James Ferguson and Jack Harte pressured the back line. The Dromore 10 moved the ball well however and soon found an overlap out wide to claim the first score, unconverted to lead 5-0. Skins responded well with carries through Buchanan and Kelly off the restart and soon were threatening the Dromore line, claiming a penalty to stay within touch, Finlay kicking the 3 points to trail 5-3. Dromore weren’t long restoring the lead as their pack continued to batter the Skins line and a penalty at the ruck allowed the home side to increase their lead, 8-3.
Skins continued to defend well to slow the Dromore attack, Gavin Parke and Josh Kennedy doing well to disrupt their line out. Dromore recycled the ball with tremendous pace however and made it very difficult for Skins to reset their defence despite determined tackling, causing gaps to open for some big runners. The front foot possession soon yielded rewards as Dromore crossed again to lead 13-3.
Skins regained possession before the end of the half and again looked good with ball in hand as the pack carried at the home side, attempts to get around the defence through the back line didn’t go to hand however and Skins settled for the penalty from a Dromore infringement, trailing only 13-6 at the half thanks to Finlay’s boot.
The second half saw a real arm wrestle for ascendency as there was little between both sides. Dromore’s kicking for territory perhaps giving them the upper hand as their out half exploited some excellent opportunities for space in behind to pin Skins back in their own half. Enniskillen’s scrum got the referee’s favour early on and earned the penalty for a collapse which set Skins up inside the half way. With some front foot ball to work from the backs showed their ability, pulling off a spectacular move through Ferguson and Parke which ended in O’Shea’s hands to almost level the scoring only for a fingertips knock on at the final hurdle.
Skins continued to play plenty of good rugby but an injury to Alex Parke forced a back line reshuffle and, playing into the wind, Skins had too much ground to make up, despite hard carries from the pack including a big front row performance from Alan Ferguson and Gareth Beatty with a memorable Steven Fox line break.
After throwing everything at the home side, Dromore took their opportunities in attack with an overlap out wide and a flat ball taken at pace by their winger to finish in the corner, unconverted to lead 18-6.
Shortly afterwards a period of forward carries from Dromore ended under the posts for a converted score, ending the contest 25-6 to the home side.
It was a solid performance from Enniskillen against a top side who have been honing their current form as league leaders for a few seasons now, while Skins are only just discovering theirs, and even so they were well within range of coming out on top for much of the game if not for some small slips in accuracy.
Skins now briefly turn from the league and look to their first Junior Cup Final since 1987, set for Tuesday 7th January at 7.30pm at Kingspan Stadium, set to be a massive showdown against Armagh 2nd XV.