Bective Win Energia Junior Cup A Century On From Bateman Cup Success
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Injured captain Tiarnan McCloskey and his stand-in, Mattie Keane, lifted the Energia All-Ireland Men's Junior Cup trophy for Bective Rangers in Ashbourne ©INPHO/Tom Maher
Bective Rangers produced a barnstorming second half, topped off by Conor Kelly’s match-winning try, to win their first Energia All-Ireland Men’s Junior Cup at the expense of Enniskillen. Watch the match back on irishrugby+.
ENERGIA ALL-IRELAND MEN’S JUNIOR CUP FINAL:
Saturday, January 25 –
BECTIVE RANGERS 37 ENNISKILLEN 31, Ashbourne RFC
Scorers: Bective Rangers: Tries: Conor Kelly 2, Mikey O’Hare, Gavin Kelly, Scott Barron; Cons: Mikey O’Hare 3; Pens: Mikey O’Hare 2
Enniskillen: Tries: James Trotter, Sam Balfour, George Foster; Cons: Eddie Keys 2; Pens: Eddie Keys 4
HT: Bective Rangers 15 Enniskillen 25
In a superbly competitive final at Ashbourne RFC, Bective trailed by 17 points but their big pack got on top at key stages, and tries from Gavin Kelly (44 minutes), Scott Barron (47), and Conor Kelly (76) drove them to a thrilling 37-31 win.
It is Bective’s first All-Ireland silverware since winning the Bateman Cup back in 1925, and comes a year on from their final defeat to Ballyclare. Ben Manion’s men also hope this can be a stepping stone to Energia All-Ireland League promotion in the spring.
The former AIL club, who were relegated in 2018 and coached by Bernard Jackman in the meantime, had to show all their battling qualities as Enniskillen, the 2023 runners-up, were clinical during the opening 40 minutes.
An absorbing first half produced five tries, Enniskillen leading all the way thanks to efforts from James Trotter, Sam Balfour, and George Foster. The excellent Eddie Keys kicked 10 points for a 25-15 half-time lead.
However, a resilient Bective bounced back and showed exactly why they are top of Leinster League Division 1A and unbeaten since September. Mikey O’Hare crossed before the break, and Gavin Kelly and Scott Barron both did soon after.
The momentum swung back and forth, Keys twice edging Skins back in front from the tee. His 67th-minute penalty to make it 31-30 came after Bective centre Matthew Gilsenan had been sin-binned.
That left the Rangers up against it, but with the young Kelly brothers from Tullamore to the fore, prop Conor decisively completed his brace. O’Hare’s right boot topped off his own 17-point tally, and the Fermanagh side had no answer.
Enniskillen edged ahead inside the opening five minutes, having absorbed a promising early spell from Bective. Jack Rutledge’s turnover, and then a couple of penalties, gave Skins the platform and they needed no second invitation.
Eddie Keys’ chip kick over the top was brilliantly gathered by captain James Ferguson. They maintained their presence in the Bective 22 before quick ball – and a peach of a pass from Foster – sent winger Trotter darting over in the left corner.
Scrum and breakdown penalties had Alastair Keys’ side back in scoring range on the 10-minute mark, and out-half Keys duly extended the lead to eight points. Bective had a swift response when O’Hare opened his account to punish an offside.
Frustratingly for Rangers, they conceded a second try soon after. Skins countered from a Tim Carroll kick, Eddie Keys expertly releasing his brother Angus from halfway and his neatly-timed pass put Balfour speeding away from the covering Carroll to score from the right.
Although Eddie Keys added a successful conversion, Bective’s heaiver pack hit back by the end of the opening quarter. Their maul put pressure on initially, before Gavin Kelly tapped a penalty and then Conor wrestled his way over from a clever switch involving Connor Halpenny.
15-8 became 18-8 when Eddie Keys landed a well-struck penalty, with referee Tomás O’Sullivan singling out Rory Mulvihill for his angle of scrummaging. Balfour then showed his defensive skills, making a crucial tackle on Craig Cantwell as space opened up out wide for Bective.
The influence of Enniskillen’s back-three on the game increased when full-back Foster tagged on their third try. In a quick-witted 34th-minute attack, Ferguson’s impressive offload off the ground set up Trotter for a pacy break and pass back inside to the try scorer.
Eddie Keys added the extras to the left of the posts, but Bective cancelled out those seven points before the interval. Ger Warde stood out during a bruising phases of ball-carrying, their forwards going close before Oliver Foote gave O’Hare a simple run-in on the right.
Manion’s fired-up charges made it successive scores early on the resumption, with their continuity improving and their work-hungry forwards wearing down the Skins defence.
Warde and Mattie Keane, their captain in Tiarnan McCloskey’s injury-enforced absence, were both prominent before second row Kelly burrowed over.
O’Hare’s conversion just to the left of the posts closed the gap to three points, and with Bective having the bit between their teeth, they took the lead for the first time in the 47th minute.
Hooker Barron crossed from close range to reward another prolonged attack during which Halpenny and his forwards combined to very good effect. Barron almost set up a fifth try, but his pass to Halpenny was ruled forward.
The hard-carrying Tim Harte helped to lift the tempo for Skins, who nipped back in front thanks to a 57th-minute penalty from Eddie Keys. O’Hare made it 30-28 early on in the final quarter, profiting from a scrum penalty after Michael Rooney had earlier stolen a lineout.
Sparked by the tireless Ferguson, the Ulster outfit regained the initiative when Henry Keys and Jack Rutledge spearheaded a break down the left wing. Suddenly Bective were defending deeper, suffering a double blow with a penalty conceded and Gilsenan seeing yellow.
Keys mopped up with the points on offer, leaving it 31-30 entering the final 10 minutes. Crucially, 14-man Bective had more in the tank. They made inroads once more with their bigger men getting on the ball and forcing Enniskillen back to their own 22.
It took a lot of accurate handling and gutsy play, directed by Keane, before tighthead Kelly burrowed over from a close-in ruck. O’Hare’s extras meant Skins needed a converted score to win, but their hopes were ended by Gavin Kelly’s last-minute lineout steal.
Along with ending that 100-year wait for All-Ireland glory, Bective are the first Leinster winners of the All-Ireland Men’s Junior Cup since Ashbourne, today’s hosts, in 2019. Seapoint, the champions back in 2007, were the first and only other Dublin club to win the competition.
TIME LINE: 5 minutes – Enniskillen try: James Trotter – 0-5; conversion: missed by Eddie Keys – 0-5; 11 mins – Enniskillen penalty: Eddie Keys – 0-8; 15 mins – Bective Rangers penalty: Mikey O’Hare – 3-8; 16 mins – Enniskillen try: Sam Balfour – 3-13; conversion: Eddie Keys – 3-15; 19 mins – Tullamore try: Conor Kelly – 8-15; conversion: missed by Mikey O’Hare – 8-15; 23 mins – Enniskillen penalty: Eddie Keys – 8-18; 34 mins – Enniskillen try: George Foster – 8-23; conversion: Eddie Keys – 8-25; 38 mins – Bective Rangers try: Mikey O’Hare – 13-25; conversion: Mikey O’Hare – 15-25; Half-time – Bective Rangers 15 Enniskillen 25; 44 mins – Bective Rangers try: Gavin Kelly – 20-25; conversion: Mikey O’Hare – 22-25; 47 mins – Bective Rangers try: Scott Barron – 27-25; conversion: missed by Mikey O’Hare – 27-25; 57 mins – Enniskillen penalty: Eddie Keys – 27-28; 63 mins – Bective Rangers penalty: Mikey O’Hare – 30-28; 67 mins – Bective Rangers yellow card: Matthew Gilsenan; Enniskillen penalty – Eddie Keys – 30-31; 76 mins – Bective Rangers try: Conor Kelly – 35-31; conversion: Eddie Keys – 37-31; Full-time – Bective Rangers 37 Enniskillen 31
BECTIVE RANGERS: Tim Carroll; Mikey O’Hare, Bobby Holland, Matthew Gilsenan, Craig Cantwell; Oliver Foote, Connor Halpenny; Rory Mulvihill, Scott Barron, Conor Kelly, Gavin Kelly, Ger Warde, James Gallagher, Mattie Keane (capt), Jamie Lawless.
Replacements: Luke Mion, David Kealy, Tadhg O’Dwyer, Donagh Lawler, Ronan Cregan, Maxime Alric, Shane O’Meara, Conor Murphy.
ENNISKILLEN: George Foster; Sam Balfour, James Ferguson (capt), Daire Hill, James Trotter; Eddie Keys, Matthew Dane; Oisin Timoney, Niall Keenan, Matthew Graham, Jack Rutledge, Neil Rutledge, Michael Rooney, Angus Keys, Henry Keys.
Replacements: Steven Fox, James Carleton, Cameron Smith, Chris Balfour, Harry Dane, Tadhg Hambly, Ben McLaren, Tim Harte.
Referee: Tomás O’Sullivan (IRFU)