U.13 SOUTH EAST FINAL

Ian Bennett on his way to scoring a great try.

Wexford Wanderers Under 13's faced Kilkenny in the South-East League Final last Wednesday in New Ross .A tight encounter was expected. Kilkenny shocked the Wexford boys by putting them under tremendous pressure immediately .Kilkenny had their homework done and kept moving the ball out wide..... the chinks appeared and they roared into a 28--0 lead by half-time.

The writing was on the wall, Andrew Maguire moved to scrum-halk, Jack Stafford to out half Peter Barry and Ian Bennett came on as centres. Now it was Wexfords's turn to put Kilkenny under pressure, Wexford were not going to roll over.The forwards continued to provide ball and the backs started running at them.Now we were crossing the 'gain' line on every phase. After heavy pressure Ian Bennett broke free and went on a mesmerizing run to score [Jonah Lomu like was mumbled on the touch line].

Wexford won a 'turnover' ball and Ian Bennett continued to be a thorn in the Kilkenny's side ,James Stafford took a ball out wide and he had a lot to do to make thje corner . Unfortuneately time ran out and Kilkenny were champions .I want to commend the team for their resilience, it would have been easy to throw in the towel but their 'spirit' showed through ,hard luck lads.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my team --Philip Stafford,Martin Fenlon and Ger Lacey for all their help and support throughout the season and a special thanks to Sean Ahearne --youth officer, who's work behind the scenes is remarkable.

Kieran MacCormack