New Ross bow out of Provincial Towns Cup
NEW ROSS 10 WICKLOW 15
NEW ROSS welcomed Wicklow to Southknock on Sunday last for the first round of the Provincial Towns Cup. With many matches postponed due to the weather, the Southknock pitch was soft under foot but playable.
Wicklow spread the ball out to the backs at every opportunity while New Ross picked and drove through their forwards. This was paying dividends for the home team who were stopped short of the try line by a strong Wicklow defence on three occasions in the first 30 minutes.
During this phase of play, John Cottrell, Conor Lyng and Joe Reville were prominent. The first try came for New Ross after 25 minutes when Jamie Cullen was held up over the line and New Ross were awarded a five metre scrum.
From the resultant scrum, the New Ross number eight, James Ryan, dived over for a try, to make the score 5-0 to the home side. The firsthalf ended with New Ross centre Seán Furlong leaving the field with a blood injury.
Wicklow started the second-half with great intensity, with clever off-loading in the tackle and angles of running which had New Ross under pressure for the first 20 minutes. During this period Wicklow scored 15 points from a penalty and two tries, one try from a crossfield kick to the winger to score unopposed.
With 15 minutes remaining, Seán Furlong returned to the field and made an immediate impact with a clever break and feed to number ten Gordon Doyle who scored a try to make the score Wicklow 15, New Ross 10.
New Ross finished the stronger with Joe Reville, Conor Lyng, Brian Bolger, Shane Roche and man of the match James Ryan stopped on the line by Wicklow. This was a good display from a young New Ross side who were the only local club in action as the Gorey and Wexford games were postponed while Enniscorthy had a bye.
Team: Conor Lyng, Shane Roche, Brian Wilkinson (capt.), Brian Bolger, Slaveo, Joe Reville, John Cottrell, James Walsh, Arron Prendergast, Gordon Doyle, Seán Furlong, Jamie Cullen, Thomas Joyce, Declan Burke, Paddy Delaney. Subs. - Martin O'neill for Furlong, Rory Flynn for Roche.
