Clane RFC

Clane made the long trip south on Saturday to Wexford and came away with a hard fought bonus point win over their hosts, Wexford Wanderers.

Clane were looking to end a run of 5 games without a win and started brightly with a penalty inside the opening minutes, converted by outhalf Luke McCormack. However, despite the quick start , the first half was a half of ups and downs. Ronan Murphy finished a well work team try but it was Wexford who were looking dangerous and managed to score two tries in the opening half, with their impressive first centre involved in both. A Mark Coonan try on the strike of half time kept Clane in touch, and at the break, Clane trailed by 17 points to 14. At this point, it was bottom of the table Wexford that were looking like the top four side, while at times Clane looked like the team propping up the table. Questions were asked of the team at half time, and in the second half these were answered emphatically as Clane moved up a number of gears and began to play more confidently.

Clanes pack become more and more dominant in the early stages of the second half, and following sustained pressure on the Wexford line, Clane finally got the lead in the game when an inside pass from Mark Coonan found Brian Conroy who finished well from 10 yards out. McCormack added the extras and now Clanes tails were up, leading by 20 points to 17. A second Ronan Murphy try put Clane 8 points ahead and secured the bonus point. However Wexford pulled this gap back to 5 with a penalty in front of the posts. From the resulting restart, and with Clane needing possession to close out the game, substitute Stephen Woodhouse rose highest from Coonans well placed restart to field excellently and put Clane on the front foot. Following a number of phases, a showboating pass through the legs from Coonan and some good link work between TJ Ryan and Conroy in the Wexford 22, Gary Mullen popped up from deep to crash in for Clanes 5th try.

The game ended with Clane winning by 32 points to 20, and this result will give the North Kildare side a confidenece boost ahead of their towns cup game against Cill Dara this Saturday (5pm, Cill Dara RFC). Coach Enda Finn will be happy with his sides second half performance, and also with the use of his bench, with Woodhouse, Mullen and young Oisin Stains all making big impacts when introduced.

Team: Sean Sullivan, Tony Blake, David Doran, Thomas John Ryan, Justin Monaghan, Niall Brennan, Noel Casey, Brian Conroy, Mark Coonan, Luke McCormack , Anthony Hennessy, Tony McLoughlin, Ronan Murphy, Pat Nolan, Mark Kelly Reps: Gary Mullen, Paul Moran, Christopher Woodhouse, Walter Nortje, Oisin Stains