Adult Rugby 
Edenderry firsts were away to Railway Union on Sunday last.
It was their third game of the top pool of the Leinster league division 3 and Derry put on a great performance to come away with a comfortable 20 points to 6 win, which keeps them right in contention for promotion this year.
Edenderry now sit second in the table on points difference with the same points as leaders Rathdrum who have a game in hand, but Rathdrum, who Derry pushed very close in their game in Rathdrum, still have to travel to Coolavacouse later in the year in what could be a very important fixture.
Derry started the game very strongly and had 5 points on the board within the first few minutes after a break down the blind side by outhalf Shane Kelly left a three on two and Edenderry simply put the ball through the hands and winger Jack Kilmurray scored in the corner. A well worked move showing the handling practice at training is paying off, left Edenderry 5 points ahead but the difficult conversion was missed.
Derry continued to dominate proceedings in the early stages with massive pressure completely destroying the homesides scrum and it was not long before Derry added to their lead with another well worked move after a great break by Jack Kilmurray, who shrugged off a number of tackles, saw first centre Sod O'Donnell score in the same corner. Again the conversion was missed but Edenderry were now 10 to nil ahead.
The home side then started to get into the game and Railway put a lot of pressure on the Edenderry lineout, winning a number of balls against the throw and this lead to a period of good field position for the home side which saw them put three points on the board from a penalty and indeed they could have added another six from two penalties, one striking the crossbar. They didnt look like breaking the Edenderry defensive line however with some huge hits being made by the Derry forwards, one in particular by hooker Brain Rushe left one of the Railway Union props down for almost five minutes and in truth the Railway player never seemed to recover from the well timed hit. It was 10 - 3 at the break.
The second half saw the home side continue to have some good territory and they added another penalty to make it 10 - 6. Their big bulky pack were using the rolling maul to good effect and it was time for a few changes from Edendery. Second row Frank Kennedy who had picked up a knock was replaced by David Keenan and Ethan Cooney at second centre was replaced by Brian O'Carroll. Keenan seemed to add a bit more steal to the Derry pack but he was not on the field very long when he picked up a sin binning for coming in from the side, the referee explaining that it was for continued infringements by the Derry pack and Keenan was just the unlucky recipient for his one infringement. Railway were also to have a man binned just after that for a high tackle on out half Shane Kelly. Substitute Brain O 'Carroll stepped up and added the three points to make the Derry lead slightly more comfortable at 13 - 6. Edenderry then began to dominate the game again and some great breaks by Brian Rushe, making 30 to 40 yards on a number of occasions, saw Derry put the home side under a lot of pressure late on. This culminated in a scrum close to the Railway line and the last play of the the game saw the Edenderry pack drive the homesides pack right back over thier own try line and backrow Tom Mulligan dived over the line for the final try of the game which O'Carroll converted to make it 20 to 6. A convincing win for the away side which will undoubtedly leave them feeling confident for their next game against which is at home against Malahide on the 10th of January.
On the day for Edenderry the pack were very dominant against a big Railway Union side. Man of the match Derek Kearney dominated in the scrum as he has done in the last few games. Liam Morley who now looks to be close to full fitness after his long term injury had a great game in the backrow and Brian Rushe looked dangerous in attack and defemce for the entire game. In the backs Ross Hendie slotted into to scrum half with relative ease and his bullet passing gave Derry the second more they needed in the back like to keep things moving and Cillain Farrell in particular was very solid at full back.
The first team scrum which performed very well on Sunday last, including a man of the match performance by tight head Derek Kearney, will undoubtedly enjoy being shown a thing or two this week as Edenderry are having Irish and Leinster legend Reggie Corrigan down for a scrumaging session this Wednesday. Training starts at 8 sharp as always and both the firsts and seconds forwards should pick up some great advice from Reggie who is currently the scrumaging coach at Heineken Cup Champions Leinster.
Team: Derek Kearney, Brain Rushe, Stephen Potterton (capt.), Frank Kennedy, Nix McEvoy, Liam Morley, Tom Mulligan, Tom Crampton, Ross Hendie, Shane Kelly, Sod O'Donnell, Ethan Cooney, Tom Facwett, Jack Kilmurray, Cillian Farrell. Subs: David Keenan, Brian O'Carroll, Rob Conlan, Colm Carter, Richie Smyth
View More Images from the Game - Click Here
