Dreadful weather preceded this game and the players had to contend with sheet rain and a difficult breeze to accompany the wet conditions in the second half. Despite this, Boyne produced a top drawer display to register their second win in this tough competition. They now have one more game to play in their group against neighbours Navan in a few weeks time and a win could see them top the league at their first attempt.
Back to last Sundays encounter though, it didn’t take the home side to get into their stride with a try in the first five mins. Great work by the forwards gained good possession for the backs and the lively scrum half, Shane Campbell, lost no time in moving the ball wide where good handling in difficult conditions saw young centre, Hennessy, go over for his teams first score. Wanderers opened in determined mood and this score came against the run of play and stunned the visitors. Boyne failed to convert the try and remained on 5pts until the 15th minute when hat trick hero, Colm Scanlan, scored the first of his three tries. This was a fine team effort and Scanlans pace did the rest when he showed a clean pair of heels to outsprint the Wanderers defence. Following their promising opening, the visitors were often left chasing shadows with Boyne team improving as the game wore on. A feature of their play was the urgency and pace at which they moved the ball and their ability to offload out of the tackle kept them on the offensive for long periods. However, they had to rely on veteran out half, Alan McEneaney, to increase their lead before half time. Wanderers were penalised virtually in front of the posts to give McEneaney the opportunity to push his sides score out to 13pts.
The second half saw the breeze stiffen into the faces of the Boyne players and with the rain pelting down it made conditions extremely hard to cope with. Wanderers also upped the tempo and spent the first ten minutes camped in the Boyne 22’. All they had to show for their efforts was a converted penalty, awarded for offside against the home side. This score failed to inhibit the Boyne side and they had another try from big centre, Robbie McKenna, who crashed over to bring his team to 18pts. From here on Boyne were not going to be denied and they set about achieving a bonus point win. Winger, Scanlan, made suure of this aspiration when he completed a fine day at the office with two more tries to complete his hat trick. McEneany converted two of the tries to leave the final score 32pts to 3pts.
A fair sized attendance who braved the terrible conditions were treated to a first class display by the home team. Many fears were expressed when Boyne were promoted as to how their Junior 1 team would compete with Junior 1 sides from the senior clubs. Well this performance gave the lie to any misgivings that members might have had. There has been a culture of fast open running rugby fostered by coach, Craig McGrath, and this has now percolated into the playing philosophy of all the teams in the club.
Outstanding for Boyne in this game were forwards, Michael Maher, Carl Keogh, John Carlos and Declan Moore. The front row trio of, Carolan, Shuttleworth and Kinsella were the platform for their teams success and won great possession in the sets and loose play. This is a young team and with coaches Declan McKeon and Eldon Moors moulding them into cohesive unit, the future certainly looks bright for the club.
Boyne XV & Repls: Dan Kinsella, Patrick Shuttleworth ( Conor Freeman 55th min), Hugh Carolan; Dermot O’Neill, Declan Moore; John Carlos, Karl Keogh, Michael Maher (Kevin Wallace 65th min); Shane Campbell (Sean Rooney 55th min), Alan McEneaney, Mark McGuirk, Robert McKenna (Graeme McQuilan 55th min), Michael Hennessy (Kevin McCleery 69th min), Colm Scanlan; Richard Jenkinson.