Ennis RFC’s under 15’s achieved further glory for their club adding the North Munster cup with a win over Newcastle West.
With this year’s league already secured, Ennis faced a team in Newcastle West which they knew little about.
Ennis made their intentions clear by putting their opponents under pressure from the kick-off. Their forwards pushed Newcastle West back to their 5 metre line where an attempted clearance was blocked down by Ennis’s No – 3 Ryan Murphy leading to the first try of the game.
Newcastle West reacted with strong forward play and with Ennis giving away a number of unnecessary penalties which put Newcastle West in a strong attacking position on Ennis’s 22 yard line.
With their strong defensive line, Ennis withstood the pressure and turned defence into attack. Strong forward play led to Ennis’s No 8 Conor Moloney breaking from the back of a ruck and scoring his first of 2 tries.
Following from the restart Ennis took control and with some great handling from the backs first centre Seanie Keane scored a fantastic individual try. At half time Ennis led 21-7.
In the second half Ennis continued their impressive work rate with a block down of a clearance by Ethan Coughlan leading to a try under the post. Ennis kept up the pressure with further tries from Conor Moloney, Brian Crowley Hayes and Jason Downes. All 7 tries were converted by Tony Butler and Ethan Coughlan leading to an emphatic win 49-12.
The North Munster cup was presented to co captain’s Tony Butler & Daniel Fogarty. The winning of the cup was the icing on a successful year for the Under 15’s and Ennis Rugby Club. Ennis players and coaches can look forward to next season when they will be competing in the Pan Munster Cup.
Team: Ben Benko, Joey Keane, Ryan Murphy, Brian Barry, Sean McGrath, Darragh O’Callaghan, Daniel Fogarty, Conor Moloney, Ethan Coughlan, Tony Butler, Seanie Keane, Jason Downes, Brian Crowley Hayes, Liam Hutton, Colm Kearney, Replacements: Coner Hegarty, Patrick Browne, Eoghan Hahessy, Tommy Garrahy, Mark Haplin, Conor Hennessy, Ben Geraghty, Dean McInnerney, Pat Kennedy & Wojciech Koper.