IJM Monaghan 2nd XV 12 Enniskillen 3rd XV 25

The IJM Monaghan 2ndXV continued their league campaign under the floodlights at Rafeenan on Friday night and suffered defeat in an entertaining match.

Enniskillen kicked off on a cold evening and both sides played some nice rugby throughout the opening quarter without either side managing to get on the scoresheet early on. Enniskillen broke the deadlock in the 18th minute with a try in the left hand corner which went unconverted. Monaghan struck back immediately when Simon O’Connell broke through the Enniskillen rearguard to touchdown in the 20th minute. Dwayne Rooney added the conversion to put the home side in front. The lead lasted a mere 5 minutes before a 2nd Enniskillen try put them back in front. With no further scores in the half, Enniskillen led by 10-7 at the break.

Dwayne Rooney got the second half under way for Monaghan but it was the visitors that were quicker back into their stride and good handling by a number of their players saw them open up the home defence to score an early try which once again went unconverted. An infringement in a ruck in the 48th minute saw the visiting loose head prop sent to the sinbin. Monaghan made good use of their extra man and Marty Mone sped through a gap in the Enniskillen ¾ line to score to the right of the posts. Dwayne Rooney hit the post with the conversion attempt. Within seconds of being returned to their full compliment of 15 players, Enniskillen scored their bonus point try. The conversion attempt fell short leaving the home side trailing by 8 points as the game headed into the final quartet. Dermod O’Hanlon went close to closing the gap in the 64th minute as he chased a Dwayne Rooney kick to the right hand corner. Although he managed to retrieve possession, he was tackled to touch a yard from the corner flag. Dwayne Rooney tapped a penalty 5 meters from the Enniskillen line a minute later, but was turned over within inches of the line. Enniskillen made the game safe with their 5th unconverted try in the 72nd minute. Enniskillen finished the game with 14 men as referee Kevin Murnaghan issued them with their 2nd yellow card of the night in the 73rd minute for a blatant obstrtuction on Dwayne Rooney as he chased a kick into the Enniskillen 22. Try as they might, the Monaghan lads were unable to make the extra man count and the game finished on a final score of IJM Monaghan 2ndXV 12 Enniskillen 3rdXV 25.

The 2ndXV now have a few weeks off and next play on Friday 25th Feb when they head to Enniskillen for the return fixture. This weekends action at Rafeenan sees Coleraine visit for a 2nd round Towns Cup game with IJM Monaghan 1stXV. Kick off will be at 2.30pm and will be preceded by a prematch lunch. You can book your place for the lunch through Ray 087 6188012 or James 086 3265282. In a busy morning of rugby at Rafeenan, the mini section will host Cavan at 9am and all 3 of our youth teams will be playing cup games at home – U14 v Carrickfergus, U16 v Malone (both 11am KO) and U18 v Ballymoney 1pm KO.

Team: M Graham C Mone W Patton R McKenna S Collins D McGregor S Clerkin C McKenna (c) J Sheridan D Rooney C Carey E Treanor M Mone D O’Hanlon S O’Connell.