Enniskillen RGS 59 Grosvenor 12

Enniskillen Royal faced Grosvenor Grammar in their final Schools’ Cup group game on Monday afternoon, having had the game twice postponed due to frozen pitches.

ERGS knew a win would guarantee top spot in the group and ensure progression to the knock-out stage at the end of January and were well prepared for the task after several weeks of hard training.

The home team started fast but lacked accuracy, with the weather conditions forcing a lot of handling errors from both sides. However, it did not take long for ERGS to get their first of many scores, with hooker Harry Kerr going over from the back of a powerful maul.

Grosvenor hit back almost immediately, scoring an intercept try from 40 metres out. Enniskillen Royal bounced back though with an instant response and did not relinquish control of the game from then on.

Brilliant interplay between a pod of forwards saw the ball passed back and forth, eventually putting flanker Aaron Seaman under the posts for the home team’s second score.

The floodgates then opened with Darragh Love, Karl Bothwell, Ben McLaren and Harry Kerr all scoring before the half-time whistle.

With a 38-5 lead going into the second half, there was an inevitable drop in playing standard from the home side.

More handling errors and penalties prevented ERGS extending on their lead in the early exchanges of the second half, but eventually the strength and quality shone through, with Man of the Match, Alex Hetherington, powering over for a much-deserved score.

With the fresh impetus of the substitutes making a big impact, ERGS ran in two more scores in quick succession, the first of which was a barnstorming 25-metre run from replacement prop, and the second a super counter attack from a kick which saw centre James Trotter get the ball in space and outpace the Grosvenor defence to score from the halfway line.

Grosvenor did muster one final score, dominating the tight exchanges and powering over for a try with the last play of the game, but this was only a consolation score as ERGS ran out 59-12 victors.

This was a very pleasing performance from the home side but they know bigger challenges lie ahead as they have been drawn against Belfast powerhouse RBAI in the last 16 of the Schools’ Cup on January 28.