Enniskillen 1st XV 17 Ballyclare 1st XV 18

Enniskillen 1st XV narrowly missed out on a place in the All-Ireland Junior Cup Semi-Final last weekend as they hosted Ballyclare in a hard fought battle at Mullaghmeen, finishing in an agonisingly close 17-18 defeat.

Skins had led 17-15, but Ballyclare landed a penalty to edge in front late on, and while Skins had opportiunities late in the game to snatch it, they couln’t get across the line as Ballyclare progressed to the last four.

However, Skins coach Stevie Welsh was very proud of his players.

“We had a few injuries on Thursday night and then a couple of lads had to do a fitness test on Saturday and didn’t make it, while we also picked up injuries during the game.

“But the boys were focused and the effort was unreal, so Ashley and myself are immensely proud of them.

“Obviously, we are gutted with the result, but it was a great perfromance – we outscored them three tries to two, but unfortunately the scoreline didn’t go our way,” he added.

Skins had a lot of the early play and the forward back showed their intent with some destructive carries at the visitors through Michael Rooney and David Buchanan, working their way deep into the Ballyclare half, but handling errors had them coming away with no reward.

A destructive Ballyclare maul from the halfway line, followed by a penalty towards the visitors, had them camped near the Skins line now, and their big, powerful backline weren’t long capitalising on the territory, crossing for the first score, converted to lead 0-7.

Almost immediately Skins were down in the Ballyclare half. A well-worked line-out was followed by some nice hands through the backs to Mark O’Shea down the left wing.

A number of reset scrums took place on the 5-metre line now before eventually Jack Rutledge crossed the line to level up 7-7.

Unfortunately Ballyclare were quick to reply with a well-worked but all too easy score through their backs; from a scrum just inside the Skins half the bounce of the ball went the way of the visitors after chipping through for their winger to score in the corner, unconverted to lead 5-12.

The two sides traded blows for the rest of the half, with play focused mostly in the middle of the field.

Skins continued to play expansive rugby, much to the supporters’ delight, and were a joy to watch as the forwards offloaded well while the 9 and 10 combination of Keys and Lendrum were keen to move the ball wide throughout.

A relentless attack

Just before the end of the half Skins made their way into the Clare half with a relentless attack – centre Stephen Balfour almost scoring from a Nick Finlay chip-through – but thankfully Skins had the advantage and a well-worked line-out and maul on the 5-metre line and Steven Fox cross for a score, unconverted to level 12-12.

The second half saw Skins with their tails up and playing well.

A scrum penalty on the half way gave the front row of Ferguson, Fox and recent addition Matthew Graham plenty of reason for elation, and Skins were making great strides into the Ballyclare half of the resultant line-out.

Another scything run from O’Shea made good inroads but a turnover from the ruck let Clare off the hook, and the impressive counter-attack from the visiting backline soon had Skins defending deep in their own half, and giving away a penalty under pressure, which gave the visitors the lead, 12-15.

The Skins attack continued to excel, with carries from Gavin Parke and Neil Rutledge constantly making yards. A break from James Carleton, supported by Fox and Jack Rutledge, brought play to the 5-metre line and silky hands through Lendrum and Finlay to George Foster on the wing crossed for a score to take the lead 17-15 for an elated Mullaghmeen spectatorship.

Ballyclare continued to make big yards in broken play, and from the restart they were soon threatening the Skins try line. A huge defensive effort from Skins kept the visitors from crossing the line, but a breakdown penalty allowed Ballyclare a crucial 3 points from the effort, now leading 17-18.

Skins had one last roll of the dice, and great pressure from Neil Rutledge from the restart reclaimed possession, and another break from Carleton had Skins knocking on the try line once again.

The tiring Skins were turned over inches from the try line, however, and failed to threaten the line again as the game fizzled out in the middle of the pitch in the remaining minutes.

Such a narrow defeat will always hit hard for a side, but Skins can hold their head high after a gruelling battle where they played some scintillating rugby in the midst of a foray of early injuries in the contest and disruption to selection in the build-up.

This is the end of their AIL Cup journey, but there’re plenty of opportunities remaining this season for this young side to build on their potential, starting away to Carrick on Saturday in the league.

“We picked up a lot of injuries in the cup game who won’t be available for Saturday but that is why we have a big squad, and someone else has an opportunitiy to come in and put their hand up,” said Welsh.