Championship 1
Lurgan 3
Enniskillen 82
ENNISKILLEN maintained their lead in Championship 1 following a big win away to Lurgan on Saturday.
Skins started well but failed to put away an early chance and then allowed Lurgan into their half.
The home side took the lead with a penalty from the 10-metre line, giving an indication of the strong wind in their favour in the 1st half.
Skins then took control of the game and played some very fluent rugby, going on to score 12 tries, with 11 conversions by Eddie Keys.
James Ferguson led the way with a hat-trick, Kuso scored two and James Trotter, Eddie Keys, Steve Balfour, Oisin Timoney, Michael Rooney, Sam Balfour and Niall Keenan all crossed the line for the Skins.
The platform for such a big score came from solid set-piece created by youngsters Cameron Smith and Toby Newman sharing the duties at tighthead against the very experienced Oran McIlmurray.
They were backed up in the second row by Chris Balfour and Jack Rutledge and the two locks carried and tackled relentlessly.
James Carleton continues to impress and he made the hardest tackles on the field, while fellow back-rower Angus Keys makes the most, springing up everywhere.
Keys also making a couple of decisive line-breaks and secured a lot of lineout ball.
Daire Hill was a key player for Skins, consistently getting over the gainline and George Foster kept things flowing and was as unflustered as ever at full-back.
Skins also welcomed Henry Keys back after 10 weeks out through injury in a big boost to their squad.
Enniskillen are at home to CIYMS on Saturday, needing two wins from their three remaining games to secure the title and make the play-offs for the first time.
Meanwhile, the 2nd XV also had an impressive 41 – 12 win at home to Omagh in the league. Youngsters Morgan Whittaker and Shane Hoy each scored great individual tries from halfway.
Other scores came from captain Peter Read, Reece Barrett, Clarke Balfour and Kyle Davidson. Whittaker got a second and Hoy also added three conversions.
In the Youth Section, the Under-14s are through to the Bowl semi-final, winning 24-7 against Donegal. Full-back Cahir Burns got four tries, with two converted by Michael Armstrong.
The Under-16s enjoyed a 26-19 win against Ballynahinch to reach their Bowl semi-final.
Finn Fallis scored a brace, with the other tries coming from Jamie Ellis and William Patrick, while Cormac Ratchford kicked three conversions.
Levi McVeigh and Shayne Quinn crossed the line for the Under-18s and Odhran McLernan got a conversion, but they missed out against Monaghan and now have a chance to win the Shield .
