Scrum time...

 

Leinster League, Division 1A

 

Newbridge 29 Enniscorthy 14

Newbridge renewed their acquaintance with Enniscorthy in a typically robust match in which both packs went out to dominate the other. There was some tough battling for possession in the rucks where man of the match Niall Duggan did a lot of hard graft.

The winner of the pack battle was declared earlier than expected when, four minutes into the second half, injury in the Enniscorthy front row saw the scrums go uncontested. Coming just after the Newbridge pack destroyed the opposition on a five-metre scrum for a try, there may have been suspicions of gamesmanship on the visitors’ part. If there was, it didn’t work with Newbridge driving over from a lineout to score the third try, prop Grant Wattleworth getting the touch down to lead 19-14.

The teams were level 14-14 at the break after Enniscorthy started in combative form, running hard at the Newbridge defence. Both sides struggled at times to cope with the wet conditions, but the knock-ons worked to Newbridge advantage, winning four scrums against the head.

The visitors started the game very well and were rewarded with an early penalty. Winger Padraig Mahon then hit back against the run of play, gathering an intercept to run the length of the field for a score under the post. Enniscorthy kept the momentum up with a second penalty after seven minutes and then showed good counter-attacking instincts to set up possession close to the Newbridge line. A speculative kick along the side line was fluffed by the Newbridge defence and Enniscorthy took full advantage for a try to go 11-7 ahead.

Going in the second quarter Enniscorthy were proving more adept at dealing with the conditions and another penalty stretched their lead to 14-7. Out half Harry Murphy missed a kickable penalty but through the pack Newbridge kept the pressure on and kicked for the corner from another penalty. Newbridge drove for the line and then a five-metre scrum provided a golden scoring chance. Enniscorthy tried to wheel out of trouble as the pressure came on but scrum half Ryan Jones scooped up a low pass which Murphy did well to control to score, adding the conversion.

Enniscorthy were able to side-step the issue of scrum domination with second half injury but the steam went out of their game as Newbridge began to squeeze their opposition. While pack pressure was a key factor Ben Swindlehurst and Peader Downey made sure there was little return from running the ball at the Newbridge three-quarters.

The second half was played entirely in the visitors’ territory with Murphy adding a drop goal to Wattleworth’s try to make in 22-14 at the end of the third quarter. Duggan was sin-binned during that time and his return to the fray added more pressure to Enniscorthy struggling to defend their line. Jones completed a good performance when he exploited the stretched defence to dart through from the back of a ruck to score under the posts for the bonus-point try with ten minutes left on the clock. Newbridge closed out the game well, with the full bench coming on to keep the visitors pinned back.

 

Newbridge: Robbie Waters, Dave Hogan, Ben Swindlehurst (c), Peadar Downey, Padraig Mahon, harry Murphy, Ryan Jones, Ronan Mangan, Niall Duggan, Mick Byrne, Rory McCann, Terry Donnelly, Brian Moore, Gareth O’Reilly, Grant Wattleworth. Subs used: Austin Sella, Colin O’Brien, Brian Furey, Cillian O’Shea, Matt Dempsey.