Bective 1st XV 5

Enniskillen 1st XV 52

Enniskillen 1st XV harnessed some of the promise they have shown in recent weeks into a full performance on Saturday to saunter into the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland Junior Cup with a one-sided demolition of Bective in Donnybrook, Dublin.

A late try for the home side was their only consolation on the day the Skins sealed a 5-52 win away from home.

For Skins coach, Stevie Welsh, the Junior Cup was a good distraction from a disjointed league campaign and it certainly did the job.

“It was a good time to get a break from the league and forget about top four and bonus points and who is beating who and it was a good chance for the boys to press reset,” he said.

Playing on the 4G surface in Dublin suited the Skins gameplan according to Welsh who was pleased with the relentless performance from his side: “We had a good gameplan during the week to move the ball and we knew it would be a quick pitch so we got the offloading game going and stuck to that.

“They had maybe some of their starters on the bench and even when they came on and it got tougher we stuck to our shape and the holes came.

“And to a man everyone across the pitch played their part in it.

“As much as the scoreline doesn’t suggest it there were periods of the game where they had lots of the ball and they kicked a lot of ball to us.

“But the boys stuck at it and there were no real blips. It was a full 80 minutes and fair play to them.”

Two early scores came through Niall Keenan; first off the back of a maul following an incredible 60 metre kick to touch under pressure from Eddie Keys, utilising the 50-22 rule to set Skins up with a line out 10m out.

The second score came the hard way as Skins simply moved the ball well through forwards and backs demonstrating some excellent offload play to make their way from their own half to the scoreline.

Skins didn’t have it all their own way for the next 15. George Foster left the field injured forcing a reshuffle and the home side had a seasoned front row which caused trouble at the scrum, but Bective couldn’t really muster a score due to solid defence from Skins, while the Skins attack, it’s fair to say, was on another level to the home side.

After exiting their own half Rooney at 8 made good ground off a midfield scrum and Keys, now at 10, glided through the drift defence, offloading inside to Sam Balfour for the third score.

The forwards continued to integrate seamlessly with the backline and were difficult to defend; Graham, the Rutledges and Keenan gaining yards constantly in attack and retaining ball well. After pressuring the line for some time Jack Rutledge put a pass out to the backs and the ball went wide to Harry Ingram who crossed for Skins’ fourth before the end of the half.

Skins remained confident at the outset of the second half and carries from Jack Rutledge and Eddie Keys brought play immediately to the opposing five metre line - Carleton crossing for a score.

Bective rallied now and attempted to set up camp in the Skins half but a Sam Balfour intercept ran the length of the pitch for a cruel blow to the home side and try number six.

For the next score the ball went wide through Keys to James Balfour to Hylton who surged inside the 22 with Neil Rutledge in support to finish the score.

Bective continued to battle well but struggled to get out of their half and soon Michael Rooney scored from a carry off the back of a line out on the five metre line, Skins’ eighth and final try.

Bective pressured well now and lived off Skins penalties for the final quarter to grind out a score before full-time, final score of 5-52.

It was a terrific performance from Skins who were extremely accurate and really played some beautiful rugby. The 1st XV have a week off now before they return to their league hoping to bring some of this form into their campaign.