Grosvenor 8 Enniskillen 19

Enniskillen 1st XV managed another league win on the road last weekend, heading to Belfast to take on Grosvenor, a side sitting in the lower end of the table, but who have shown their ability to score tries in recent games if left unchecked.

It was a dominant Skins performance and they may feel disappointed they didn’t claim a bonus point, but, given the potency of home advantage in this league, Skins will be partially satisfied with the away win.

An early fumble had Grosvenor pressuring early on the Skins line, and it took a big defensive effort to keep them out – some mishandling from the home side ending a few minutes of intense pressure, and from the resulting scrum the front row of Fox, Graham and Clarke won a penalty to end the prolonged period of Grosvenor attack.

A surging maul

Skins were soon knocking on the try line after a surging maul from the pack and a break by Balfour and Lendrum, but couldn’t finish the job on this occasion due to some handling errors and multiple reset scrums ending in a Grosvenor escape.

It was a George Foster and Mark O’Shea bit of handling and kick chase that put the home side back under pressure after a scrappy period of play in the middle of the pitch.

A poor goal line drop-out from the home side, and maybe some confusion over the new laws, ended with a Skins scrum on the Grosvenor five-metre; the Skins pack won another penalty and a quick tap from Jack Rutledge claimed the first score, converted by John Maguire to lead 0-7.

The back line continued to use the ball well and moved it left to right with ease through Lendrum at 10 and Finlay at 12, with O’Shea, Balfour and Foster racking up a lot of yards.

A stolen line out 10 metres out, quickly made its way wide for O’Shea to pick up the second of the game, but was deemed held up.

The pack had a go only moments later with a period of close quarter drives after the goal line drop-out, but were also frustratingly held up over the line.

Finally Skins got over the line, starting with some scintillating handling from the forward pack through Rutledge, Fox, Clarke and Rooney to bring play up deep inside the 22, then quickly wide to Maguire through a slick Lendrum skip pass, and on to O’Shea for a sure score this time around – a fantastic touchline conversion from Maguire to end the half, 0-14.

The second half was a much scrappier affair and the home side managed a lot more possession.

An early venture into Skins territory was looking very threatening before a Nick Finlay turnover ended the passage.

Discipline around the ruck continued to be a problem for both sides, however, and neither could really build momentum because of it.

Skins continued to back big inroads in open play however; the back line continuing to break the line, and the pack connecting well to execute some big carries from the likes of Clarke and Neil Rutledge.

Another dominant five metre scrum, this time with Alan Ferguson on at loose-head, gave Jack Rutledge the platform needed and he crossed for his second score, unconverted, to lead 0-19.

The home side had the Lion’s share of possession for the rest of the game and Skins put in a determined defensive effort to keep them out.

Grosvenor spent the better part of a quarter in the Skins half before eventually making their way over the try line from close quarters to come back to 5-19.

Fizzled out

Skins were clearly intent on another score, but struggled to get out of their own half and the game fizzled out without any more scores on the board.

It was a good game for the spectators who witnessed enterprising handling and penetrating running from Enniskillen.

Although, knowing where they need to be, Skins will look at opportunities missed and times they let the home side off the hook.

There’s a much needed weekend off now for the 1st XV before welcoming Ballyclare to Mullaghmeen on Saturday, November 20, for the much anticipated AIL Junior Cup quarter final.