CIYMS 1st XV 19 Enniskillen 1st XV 52

Enniskillen managed a huge win last Saturday, finishing 52-19 away to CIYMS to secure their place in the semi-final of the Junior Cup.

And the draw for that last four encounter has pitted them with an away tie against City of Derry on April 22.

Before that though, an in-form Skins will host neighbours Clogher Valley next Wednesday night (April 5) with a place in the Towns’ Cup final the prize for the victors.

Skins’ coach Stevie Welsh states that the whole focus for his side is on that derby semi-final at Mullaghmeen next Wednesday night.

“We have three sessions between now and next Wednesday night and our focus is just on the Towns’ Cup semi-final,” said Welsh, who knows the size of the task that Skins face, having lost to league champions Clogher in the All-Ireland Junior Cup final at the end of January.

“Clogher are at the top of Junior rugby for a reason – they are an excellent team, but things can change quickly and if the boys believe and put in the hard work, then it will be a hell of a game,” added Welsh.

Disappointed

Home advantage is obviously a plus for Skins although Welsh is disappointed that the game has been fixed for Wednesday night and not a Saturday.

“It’s not ideal to play a big game like this on a Wednesday and not a Saturday, but hopefully we will have a big home support down both touchlines,” he added.

Skins go into the game in a rich vein of form after another impressive display on Saturday against CIYMS in their final Junior Cup group game.

“It was a good performance, that’s three games in a row now that we have scored 50-plus points. It was tougher than it looked in the first half as CI always threaten, but it was pleasing to see the boys keep going,” said Welsh.

It was a remarkable result given, much to Skins’ frustration, they suffered defeat to CI twice this year in the league.

The fixture was fairly hard-fought in the early stages but Eddie Keys’ boot at out half claimed territory well to put the home side under pressure.

Skins played the better rugby but CI showed their ability to make line breaks and move the ball wide, working their way into the Skins 22’ from loose ball and proving a threat, which forced determined defence from Skins early on and big hits came from Neil Rutledge and Daire Hill to slow their progress.

Surprisingly, the first score came from the Skins 22’ as Sam Balfour got some space and showed his pace and footwork to sidestep the first defender and then the fullback to run most of the pitch and score the first try, 0-5 to Skins.

The next score was built from a line-out which broke down into pick and drives, Gavin Warrington crossing for the second, 0-12 after an Eddie Keys conversion.

CI continued to threaten in attack but Skins worked hard on a surprisingly warm afternoon to shepherd the opposition, centre pairing Hill and James Balfour marshalling the defence well.

Hard to suppress

The Skins’ forwards, however, linked well with backs in attack and were hard to suppress. Neil Rutledge was next to score, again converted to lead 0-19.

CI did well to build pressure from the restart and managed a score before half time to keep themselves in the game.

The second half was all Skins, however, as they continued to dominate the exchanges.

Henry Keys, off the bench, made his presence felt and scored the bonus point try not long into the second half.

From a Carleton break in midfield shortly afterwards, prop Gavin Warrington showed he still had a spring in his step to take the offload and finish the score from the CI 22’, for his second of the day, Skins now leading 7-31.

His fellow prop, Matthew Graham, scored at the end of the third quarter to extend the lead. CI wouldn’t lie down, to their credit, and brought the scoreline back to 14-38, but Skins had the final say with one from Carleton after forward pressure, and Sam Balfour, Man of The Match, finished Skins’ scoring with another good finish on the wing, 52-14.

CI continued to hammer away and got another try before the full-time whistle, final score 52-19.

It was a terrific performance from Skins and Welsh says that they are looking forward to a tough test against City of Derry on April 22.

“Derry have pretty much a whole month to prepare for the game and it will be tough but we are looking forward to it.

“I like Derry as a team – they are a good club with a good coach,” he added.

 

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