This article is from page 60 of the 2011-11-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 60 JPG
St Sena ns RFC 23 Ga lba lly RFC 11 ST SENAN’S made their intentions clear from the kick-off when Ian Fitzgerald gathered the ball and ran at the opposition before moving the ball across the line for Declan Collins to kick a ball over the approaching Clanwilliam players, for Barry Murphy to chase down.
Clanwilliam conceded a penalty from this attack Senans chose not to kick for the posts, as a strong cross wind would have made it very difficult; they kicked for touch to take their chances in a line-out.
Senans won line-out forcing Clanwilliam to concede another penalty and once again Senans chose the line-out option, this time Clanwilliam managed to clear their lines and push Senans back to half way.
Senans regained control and forced Clanwilliam to concede a number of defensive scrums; a strong Senans pack had the upper hand in the scrums and pushed the visitors back over their own try line for Daragh McCoy to get the final touch on the ball for Senans first try under the posts.
Declan Collins made no mistake with the conversion and opened up a 7-0 lead for the home side.
This lead was soon reduced as Clanwilliam pushed into Senans, half winning and scoring from a long range penalty, to reduce deficit to 73. Gaining confidence from this passage of play Clanwilliam put Senans under pressure again and forced them to concede another penalty which they converted moving to within one point of the home side at 7-6.
Following this latest score both sides played some very aggressive rugby in the middle of the field but could not produce any clear cut opportunities. Senans broke this deadlock and pushed forward deep into Clanwilliam territory winning penalties on 26 and 30 minutes, Declan Collins kicked both of these to extend Senans lead to 13-6.
Senans continued to pressurise the visitors and finished the half with another penalty conversion to go into half time 16-6 leaders.
The second half started with both packs battling for territorial advantage to provide a platform for their backs to launch a threat on each others try line.
Clanwilliam came closest after 12 minutes when they were encamped on Senans try line for an extended period but the Senans defence held tough denying them a score clearing their lines to relieve the pressure.
The second half deadlock was broken on 26 minutes when once again a strong Senans pack drove the Clanwilliam scrum back over their try line for Ian Fitzgerald to score Senans 2nd try which Declan Collins converted to give the home side a 23-6 advantage.
Both sides battled away in mid-field but found it difficult to create any clear cut scoring opportunities until the 35th minute when Clanwilliam found space out wide to run in their first try, the conversion kick missed the target and left the visitors trailing 23-11.
This was to be the last score of the game and Senans ran our deserving winners of this tough game.
Next week Senans take on Richmond RFC at 2.30pm on Sunday, November 20 in Richmond Park
St Senans Team
Pa Ryan, Fergal Lawlor,Tony O’Brien,Aaron Skerritt, Aidan O’Callaghan, Jamie Keogh, Ian Fitzgerald, Mike O’Connell, Darragh McCoy, Noel Hoban, Barry Murphy, Neil McDonagh, Dylan Sonneman, Fernando Gallant, Declan Collins.
Replacements
DavidWebb, Eamonn Martin, Eamonn O’Donoghue, Michael Cusack, Jake Egan.