ERGS U14 vs. Killicomaine Junior High School

Enniskillen kicked off against a tall, powerful Killicomaine U14 team. Killicomaine caught well but the carrier was soon tackled, spilling the ball in the contact. Matthew Graham was quick to secure possession by diving onto the wet ground with Justin White, Ryan Phair and David Stinson in close support. Killicomaine reclaimed the ball through a scrum on their own 22 line after an Enniskillen knock on and an uncharacteristically misplaced Enniskillen defence allowed a line break by an impressively quick Killicomaine centre. Callum Smyton chased hard but it was full back Sam Milligan who raced across to made the defensive cover tackle just before the Enniskillen 22 line. It was the closest Killicomaine were to get to the Enniskillen try line for the entire first half.
Strong scrummaging by Ben Davis and the Enniskillen forwards gave the backs a strong platform to work from and good play by centres Taine Haire and Stephen Balfour released Sam Balfour whose pace got him over the game line for Enniskillen’s first try. After the restart and brilliant handling skills by the whole team allowed retention of possession for 5 phases of play and Taine Haire was on hand to finish the move with the second score.
The size and power of the Killicomaine side was impressive and the rucks were some of the most competitive seen in the U14s matches this season. Henry Keys, Matthew Beatty and the rest of the forwards did well to continually compete. After another successful ruck Callum Smyton was able to pick and go for the third Enniskillen try. Stephen Balfour put the fourth try under the Killicomaine posts after Matthew Bothwell distributed the ball quickly to Eddie Keys and Jason Bothwell in the back line.
Enniskillens developing kicking game featured in the final phases of the first half. Eddie Keys was alert to the space in behind the Killicomaine lines and Taine Haire chased and secured the ball. The ball was quickly distributed along the back line and Sam Balfour finished the move for his second.
Fresh legs came off the bench in the second half. Zak Havers and Matthew Wilson both had strong games in the back row and Jordan Walker made a sound debut at prop. Hugo Graham had a very good game at scrum half and Adam Sanderson, Andrew Patton and Charlie Donaldson all showed good skills in the back line. The final score was 39 – 0 to Enniskillen.