Enniscorthy Hockey Club men were again on the road this weekend with a game against Dublin side St. James Gate.
Enniscorthy even without injured players Jonathon Rothwell, John Casey and Cathal Ó Suilleabháin, travelled with a strong squad giving them every chance to come away with a win, and that is exactly what happened. The South East men came home with a two nil win and three more points in the bag against the Dublin side.
In early encounters Enniscorthy were the stronger team with some great movement of the ball between players, but the final touch was not coming off for the visiting team. St. James Gate were very dangerous on the counter attack putting the Enniscorthy Men’s defence under pressure on a number of occasions. An aerial pass by the home team put the right back defender Andrew Rothwell under pressure when the St. James Gate player taking the aerial perfectly under control only to be stopped by the onrushing Graham Hill in the Enniscorthy goal. The right back, learning from the earlier close call was now well aware of the aerial danger possessed by the home team, came out on top in a similar situation in the latter stages of the first half, when he cleared a dangerous attack by St. James Gate. Enniscorthy themselves made some very dangerous breaks of their own during the first half down the right had side with the young gun Liam Jowett and Jason Rothwell linking up extremely well, and delivering some very dangerous balls into forwards Seamus McAlister and Robbie Walshe, but still with no return for their efforts.
The Enniscorthy men had an intense team talk at half time and this seemed to be the turning point for the South East side. Daithí Medcalf now upfront for Enniscorthy tested the defence of St. James Gate who managed to keep their goal line safe until Liam Jowett and Jason Rothwell linked up well with Jason breaking the deadlock when Liam drew the keeper out only to square the ball across to Jason who push the ball passed the young Dublin goalkeeper to the delight of his teammates. Now with the momentum in Enniscorthy favour they kept the pressure on in seek of a second goal. That goal come shortly after the first when a goal was crossed into the D of St. James Gate with Seamus McAlister ready to pounce. Seamus took a perfect strike with Jason Rothwell ready to jumped in at the post to make sure the ball reached the back of the home teams net. Rory Maguire almost making it three nil when Medcalf fed the ball to give Maguire a one on one with the home goalkeeper, but on this occasion the goalkeeper came off best. With the final whistle blown, Enniscorthy can be very happy with a great win on the road.
The Enniscorthy men who are now in a very strong position, having taken seven points from a possible nine in their opening three games of their season, will be tested next weekend when they play two games. On Saturday they take on Pembroke Wanderers away in Serpentine Avenue, followed by a home game against Monkstown on Sunday.
Squad: Andrew Rothwell; Keith Ogilvie; Clive Rothwell (c); PJ Pierce; David Simmons; Roy Chapman; Glenn Chapman; Jason Rothwell; Seamus McAlister; Robbie Walshe; Graham Hill; Niall Maguire; Rory Maguire; Daithí Medcalf; Liam Jowett.
Enniscorthy even without injured players Jonathon Rothwell, John Casey and Cathal Ó Suilleabháin, travelled with a strong squad giving them every chance to come away with a win, and that is exactly what happened. The South East men came home with a two nil win and three more points in the bag against the Dublin side.
In early encounters Enniscorthy were the stronger team with some great movement of the ball between players, but the final touch was not coming off for the visiting team. St. James Gate were very dangerous on the counter attack putting the Enniscorthy Men’s defence under pressure on a number of occasions. An aerial pass by the home team put the right back defender Andrew Rothwell under pressure when the St. James Gate player taking the aerial perfectly under control only to be stopped by the onrushing Graham Hill in the Enniscorthy goal. The right back, learning from the earlier close call was now well aware of the aerial danger possessed by the home team, came out on top in a similar situation in the latter stages of the first half, when he cleared a dangerous attack by St. James Gate. Enniscorthy themselves made some very dangerous breaks of their own during the first half down the right had side with the young gun Liam Jowett and Jason Rothwell linking up extremely well, and delivering some very dangerous balls into forwards Seamus McAlister and Robbie Walshe, but still with no return for their efforts.
The Enniscorthy men had an intense team talk at half time and this seemed to be the turning point for the South East side. Daithí Medcalf now upfront for Enniscorthy tested the defence of St. James Gate who managed to keep their goal line safe until Liam Jowett and Jason Rothwell linked up well with Jason breaking the deadlock when Liam drew the keeper out only to square the ball across to Jason who push the ball passed the young Dublin goalkeeper to the delight of his teammates. Now with the momentum in Enniscorthy favour they kept the pressure on in seek of a second goal. That goal come shortly after the first when a goal was crossed into the D of St. James Gate with Seamus McAlister ready to pounce. Seamus took a perfect strike with Jason Rothwell ready to jumped in at the post to make sure the ball reached the back of the home teams net. Rory Maguire almost making it three nil when Medcalf fed the ball to give Maguire a one on one with the home goalkeeper, but on this occasion the goalkeeper came off best. With the final whistle blown, Enniscorthy can be very happy with a great win on the road.
The Enniscorthy men who are now in a very strong position, having taken seven points from a possible nine in their opening three games of their season, will be tested next weekend when they play two games. On Saturday they take on Pembroke Wanderers away in Serpentine Avenue, followed by a home game against Monkstown on Sunday.
Squad: Andrew Rothwell; Keith Ogilvie; Clive Rothwell (c); PJ Pierce; David Simmons; Roy Chapman; Glenn Chapman; Jason Rothwell; Seamus McAlister; Robbie Walshe; Graham Hill; Niall Maguire; Rory Maguire; Daithí Medcalf; Liam Jowett.
