Energia All-Ireland Men’s Junior Cup: Quarter-Finals Review

ENERGIA ALL-IRELAND MEN’S JUNIOR CUP QUARTER-FINALS:

Saturday, November 15 –

DROMORE 23 ENNISKILLEN 0, Barban Hill
Scorers: Dromore: Tries: Dean Dillon 2, Matthew Millar; Con: Jonny Hunter; Pens: Jonny Hunter 2
Enniskillen: –
HT: Dromore 15 Enniskillen 0

Driven on by player-of-the-match Richard Dickson, Dromore impressed as they recorded a 23-0 victory over Enniskillen, last season’s beaten finalists, in their all-Ulster clash.

From the opening whistle, the hosts, who also reached the semi-final stage last year, stamped their authority on the contest. By half-time they held a deserved 15-0 lead.

The first half belonged to centre Dean Dillon, who crossed for two superb tries. Jonny Hunter, who was influential from the kicking tee, added a conversion and penalty to push Dromore further ahead before the break.

Enniskillen had phases of possession, but they struggled to penetrate a well-organised home defence that consistently won the collisions and slowed the breakdown.

The second half followed the same pattern, with Dromore controlling territory. Skins had their chances, but the Ryan Hughes-led home side sealed the result when Matthew Millar powered over for a try, adding to Hunter’s second penalty.

ATHY 41 SUTTONIANS 10, the Showgrounds
Scorers: Athy: Tries: Craig Miller, Patrick Julian, Kevin Downey, Aidan Henry, Hayden Casey-Gray; Cons: Josh Miller 5; Pens: Josh Miller 2
Suttonians: Try: Simon Feeney; Con: Jack Gallagher; Pen: Jack Gallagher
HT: Athy 3 Suttonians 10

The dream debut season for Athy continued as they produced a thrilling second-half performance that turned a tense contest into a statement win. They overturned a 10-3 half-time deficit to ultimately defeat Suttonians 41-10.

The visitors were the brighter side early on, with Jack Gallagher slotting over a penalty inside ten minutes before converting Simon Feeney’s try shortly after the half-hour mark.

Athy’s only response before the interval was a penalty from Josh Miller, leaving the Kildare side with plenty to do.

Whatever was said by the Athy coaches at half-time had the desired effect. Their tempo, accuracy, and urgency surged, and Suttonians simply could not live with it.

The turnaround came quickly. In the 47th minute, captain Craig Miller scrambled over from a ruck for the first of Athy’s five tries, and just after number 8 Patrick Julian also burrowed in under the posts.

With reliable place-kicker Josh Miller converting both, Athy suddenly swept into a 17-10 lead. Their scrum and lineout began to dominate, providing a platform for the backs to stretch Suttonians across the pitch.

Centre Miller added further conversions either side of a penalty, as the tries continued to arrive. Kevin Downey, who showed very good footwork and strength to score, and Aidan Henry both crossed the whitewash.

Exploiting some space out wide in the 77th minute, Henry cut inside the final defender to get on the scoresheet, before Athy saved their most crowd-pleasing moment for the final play.

Following some deft handling, the talismanic Craig Miller ran hard out to the left where he fed winger Hayden Casey-Gray whose sharp sidestep took him over from close range.

Josh Miller converted once more to complete a personal haul of 16 points. Their place in the December 13 semi-finals is richly deserved, and the Junior Cup newcomers will await the draw with great interest.

ST. MARY’S 28 CREGGS 60, Grove Island
Scorers: St. Mary’s: Tries: Keith McManus, Adam Guerin, Stephen Hayes, Paul Curtis; Cons: Adam Guerin 4
Creggs: Tries: Mikey Dunne, Shane Dowd 2, Cormac Dolan, Dean O’Reilly 4, Mark Purcell, Chris Duignan; Cons: Mark Purcell 3, Ronan Dowd 2
HT: St. Mary’s 21 Creggs 31

In the last few seasons, the quarter-final hurdle has been one that Creggs have found tricky to clear, but they produced the most eye-catching display of the weekend, scoring ten tries to comprehensively defeat St. Mary’s.

The game was breathless from the outset, and little separated the teams by the break, with Creggs coming out on top in a blistering second stanza. Their experience in this competition certainly told, as they marched into the semi-finals.

Dean O’Reilly was the Connacht side’s scoring star with four tries. It was fellow winger Mikey Dunne who opened the scoring in the seventh minute by applying the finishing touches to a superb team score which started from deep.

The visitors led 26-0 after just 18 minutes, with Shane Dowd (2) and Cormac Dolan swiftly taking the try haul to four. But St. Mary’s, playing their first ever home game in the Junior Cup, are made of stern stuff. They rallied to close the gap to 31-21 by half-time.

Second row Stephen Hayes barged over for their third try, adding to earlier efforts from Keith McManus and Adam Guerin. However, a chargedown effort from O’Reilly, who had gotten off the mark before the break, kept Creggs on course.

The Connacht Junior player went on to claim a second-half hat-trick, with Creggs reaching the half-century mark by the 66th minute. Mark Purcell crashed over before O’Reilly touched down from a brilliant Purcell cross-field kick.

Dunne did the donkey work for O’Reilly’s fourth of the afternoon, and although Paul Curtis replied late on for Mary’s, Creggs made it a 32-point winning margin when Chris Duignan supplied try number ten.

SEAPOINT v WICKLOW, Kilbogget Park

The quarter-final fixture between Seapoint and Wicklow at Kilbogget Park was postponed due to heavy rainfall on Friday. It will now take place on Saturday, November 29, forming a double-header with their Leinster League Division 1A match.