BUCCANEERS 26 ENNISCORTHY 33
BUCCANEERS went down 33-26 to basement club Enniscorthy in their Energia All-Ireland League Division 2B fixture at Dubarry Park on Saturday. It was another frustrating display by the inconsistent Pirates with basic errors and lack of strong game management not helping their cause on a cold but dry afternoon.
Buccs made four changes for the first visit of the Wexford club, equally divided between backs and forwards. Injury ruled out backs Corey Reid and Orrin Burgess while busy U-20 duo Patrick Egan and Sean Glennon were on the bench. Tom Shine and Ross Murphy-Sweeney came into the backline with Oisin Dolan and Ryan O’Meara starting in the pack. Enniscorthy made two changes, Tomas Stamp replacing the suspended Tom Ryan at lock and Graham Barry coming into the centre for Kevin O’Connor.
The visitors had first benefit of the strong breeze blowing from goal to goal and soon had Buccs on the back foot despite losing M.J.Doyle to an early injury. Their pressure yielded a 7th minute try by James Doyle who deftly chipped the cover to dot down at the uprights for a try converted by Conal Kervick.
Buccs made an instant retort with Abel Bouwens sending Tom Cotton off and running and he fed Murphy-Sweeney for a try wide on the left after 9 minutes. Gearoid McDonald landed an excellent conversion against the wind.
The south-easterners continued to enjoy the majority of territory but Buccs defended well, with Dan Donovan making two crucial turnovers. However, his work was undone when McDonald’s no look pass was intercepted by Ivan Jacob to run in for a gift 21st minute converted try at the posts. Jacob was then unlucky not to add his second try when his kick ahead was too strong. Winning a scrum against the head, Enniscorthy piled forward and following several pick and goes Lee Treacy got over the home line for a converted 29th minute try which gave them a 21-7 lead.
Buccaneers had been finding it difficult to make inroads into the opposition half against the elements and in the face of tenacious defending. But they began to put some decent play together in the closing stages of the half with some slick handling. Sam Meecham was held up just short but O’Meara eventually breached the cover just before the interval. McDonald kicked another good conversion to reduce the Pirates arrears to 14-21 at halftime.
With the breeze to assist the midlanders they looked in a promising position but in the opening minutes of the second half they kicked two penalties dead! Their teamwork finally clicked on 54 minutes with Egan feeding O’Meara who made ground before off-loading to O’Sullivan and the winger (playing in the centre on the day) showed commendable desire to force his way over for an unconverted try wide on the left.
Home supporters anticipated that Buccs would now kick on but after collecting a loose Dylan Duffy clearance Rhyan Whelan found a huge gap in the home defence. With the Pirates stretched, Egan was sin-binned for offside and two minutes later Enniscorthy mauled over the home line for a bonus point try by Scott O’Connor. Six minutes later it got even better for the Wexford men despite a wonderful chase and tip tackle by O’Sullivan that denied a certain try but Fiachra Hourihane was up in support to capitalise and dot down between the uprights for a try converted by Ben Kidd which gave them a handsome 33-19 advantage.
Buccs responded but Egan’s touchdown was ruled out on 67 minutes. However, following a sustained spell, Murphy-Sweeney scored his second try four minutes later with McDonald adding the extras. They battled on gamely but just could not secure a levelling score in the face of committed and organised defending by their opponents who held on for their first away victory of the season on a 33-26 scoreline.
Buccs did not harness the breeze in the second half which would have helped them control the sometimes frenetic proceedings. Wrong options were taken in both halves by their primarily young squad and, with a bit more guile, they would surely have earned more than the two bonus points. They worked hard throughout with the perpetual motion of Meecham making him the home side’s standout contributor, as he has been in most matches. O’Meara, Donovan and Adam Cooper also were prominent in the forwards exchanges with Bouwens and O’Sullivan best of the backs.
BUCCANEERS:- D.Colgan; T.Shine, R.O’Sullivan, T.Cotton, R.Murphy-Sweeney; G.McDonald, A.Bouwens; A.Cooper, O.Dolan, C.Byrne; R.O’Meara, C.Sheehan; S.Meecham (captain), D.Donovan and L.Balsiger. Replacements:- D.Duffy (for Colgan, h/t), P.Egan (for Balsiger, 48 mins), S.Glennon (for Dolan, 67 mins), J.Kelly and S.Tan.
ENNISCORTHY:- J.Kelly; I.Jacob, R.Whelan, N.Doyle, G.Barry; C.Kervick, F.Hourihane; S.O’Connor, D.Murphy, M.J.Doyle; T.Stamp, T.Morrissey; J.Doyle, L.Treacy and T.Ryan (captain). Replacements:- I.Kearney (for M.J.Doyle, 4 mins), M.Byrne (for Morrissey, 52 mins), B.Kidd (for Kervick, 58 mins), M.McVeigh (for D.Murphy, 65 mins), S.McGuire (for N.Doyle, 65 mins), C.Kervick (for Jacob, 65 mins) and D.Murphy (for Treacy, 68 mins).
Referee:- Sean Kearns (IRFU).
