20//02/16 Leinster U18 Cup Longford 15 Enniscorthy 17

Longford 18’s welcomed Enniscorthy to CPL Park for a 1^st Round cup game on Saturday. The visitors are coached by renowned Greystones and Ireland hooker Spud Murphy and proved too strong in a ding dong battle that saw the Wexford men triumph by 2 points on a scoreline of Longford 15 Enniscorthy 17.

Conditions were sticky with a light rain falling at times but both teams showed great attacking intent. Longford had a slight territorial advantage in the first half but the Wexford men were first on the scoreboard with a well worked try and the conversion made it 7-0. Longford responded well with Erik Stancu, Danny Griffin and Daragh O’Connor driving hard to set up good ball. This was ehipped out by the impressive Daniel McHugh who led well despite playing on one leg and found it’s way to Brian Harte who scorched in. The conversion from Bartley was good to make it 7-7.

Enniscorthy retook the lead through a penalty but this was wiped out from a clean penalty strike from Bartley. It felt as if the next score would prove decisive and so it was. Longford conceded a penalty and went to sleep allowing the visiting 9 a clear run to the line. The missed conversion gave the home team a lifeline. Ruadhan O’Donnell began to have a major impact on the game and his lines of running and distribution pushed Longford forward. A quickly taken penalty was moved well to the left and once again Brian Harte was on hand to touch down. The difficult conversion was missed. Longford’s tails were up and  the home team were awarded a penalty and kicked to the corner. The lineout throw by the impressive Karl Mallon was on the money  but good Enniscorthy defence repelled the Longford men. Time was running out but Eoin Cousins did a great job of disrupting the lineout and Longford had one last chance. A scrum 10 metres from the side line on the half way line seemed a long way from the try line but Conor Masterson got his side up freeing McHugh to have a snipe. He raced up the try line and beat the first line of defence but a fabulous covering tackle forced Daniel’s legs into touch just as he grounded the ball. By such small margins are games won and lost.