Enniskillen Girls U18s 39 Southern Stars Girls U18s 12

On a wind swept day at Mullaghmeen, Enniskillen U18s took on the Southern Stars in the first round of the U18s Cup.

From the start, Enniskillen were determined to move the ball at every opportunity with some silky passing and driving runs from Sophie Barrett and Moya Hill, Skins found themselves within touching distance of the try line. With a a three person overlap on the left-hand side, Skins tried a pick and go game but they where turned over and the Stars kicked the ball long which was collected by one of their chasing players who showed searing pace and a clean pair of heels to run in from 70 metres. The long walk back to their own try line gave Skins plenty of time to think about their own missed opportunity.

Skins knew they where in a game and from the restart they forced a turn over deep in the opposition half with Chloe Moore popping a short ball off to Sophie Barrett who drove over for skins first try. This was converted by Moya Hill to make it 7-7.

The Stars where not to be outdone and fought at every breakdown and would not give an inch but Skins soon settled into their patterns of play and after a bone crunching tackle in the middle of the park by Moya Hill, Farrrah Cartin McCloskey gathered the spilled pass and showed neat footwork to bamboozle the defence and race under the posts for 12-7.

In the pack Ciara, Zoe, Kelly and Aoife worked tirelessly at every breakdown with Skins forcing the Stars over their own line giving them a goal line drop out. The resulting kick was gathered by Farrah Cartin McCloskey who drew the defence and put Scarlet Keys away on the left side to outpace the defence for the corner. Moya Hill made a magnificent effort at the conversion but it’s sailed agonisingly wide.

And it wasn't long before the next Skins score arrived as Keeva Corry dived over as they moved into 22-7 advantage.

From restart again Skins chased hard to force the turnover in the opposition 22, Cartin McCloskey showed more magical footwork to dance under the posts unchallenged. Hill converted for 29-7.

Stars replied quickly with individual brilliance and one of the outside backs showed great pace to score under the posts from distance to leave the half time score 29-12.

Skins started off the second half the way they finished the first. From a scrum in the middle of the park and some neat handling put Cartin McCloskey in space to run 50 metres to score under the posts.

The last try of the day came from a line out where the pack combined to release the back line down the left and Niamh used her pace to score in the corner as the game finished 39-12.

Much credit must go to the Stars who played some great rugby and fought for every inch and every ball all day. They should be very proud off themselves and showed great spirit to compete right up to the final whistle.