Henshaw shows the way as Buccaneers under-20s win again

Buccaneers U-20s recorded a second impressive win in the South-West Conference Division One when they defeated Sundays Well 20-5 at Dubarry Park, Athlone, on Saturday. Conditions were not conducive to free-flowing rugby but these young Buccs adapted best to forge a comfortable victory although a fourth try, that would have embellished their display with a Bonus point, eluded them. Played on the main pitch in incessant rain, Buccaneers opted to take advantage of the breeze in the opening half but failed to harness the elements to their best potential. It took them awhile to settle but, following good interplay from a scrum in midfield, Billy Henshaw did well to fend off two tacklers to get in for the opening try wide on the right after 14 minutes. Buccs did not build on this score until Sunday"s Well had a prop sin-binned late in the half. Then they made their numerical superiority pay bringing play through the phases from their own 22 before Adam Kennedy spread the ball to Henshaw who outpaced the cover for a second try wide on the right for a 10-0 lead. Then Sunday"s Well surprised the homesters by responding before half-time with a try near the posts but this too was unconverted to leave the midlanders, who lost influential Joe Kenny through injury, narrowly ahead 10-5 at the break. Both teams were puzzled by some of the referee"s decisions with Buccs particularly wondering about an 11-3 penalty count against them in that opening period, as well as the yellow carding of Kevin Creavin early in the second half. However, to the credit of both sides, the players kept their mouths shut and got on with proceedings. Now facing the elements, Buccaneers players responded in the crucial third quarter of the game, keeping ball in hand and going through tight handling phases, their forwards feeding smartly off the backs to keep possession. Buccs were now doing much better in the lineouts where Keelan Headd was prominent, while Terry Hynes was growing in confidence at out-half. David Fagan found the range with a 52nd minute penalty to give the Athlone side further encouragement. Buccs made their controlled efforts pay when, following a scrum inside the Corkonians 22, Paul Robinson fed the ball to Kennedy who again linked up with Henshaw and the winger polished off his hat-trick on 67 minutes, Fagan"s conversion easing Buccs to their 20-5 winning margin. Buccs were decidedly unfortunate not to capture a Bonus point when Colin Draper cut open the visitors" defence from 35 metres, going past four attempted tackles, before diving for the line but the impressive centre was just short and a double-movement invalidated his try effort. For his scoring exploits, Henshaw was the hero but Draper and Rory Walsh (whose distribution improved noticeably) also caught the eye in the backline. Creaven and Shane O"Neill were superb in the backrow while Headd lorded the lineouts. But, overall, this was a true team effort with the replacements also making key contributions. BUCCANEERS: D.Fagan; B.Henshaw, C.Draper, R.Walsh, C.Molloy; T.Hynes, A.Kennedy; N.Harney (captain), T.Thompson, A.Hughes; K.Headd, P.Robinson; S.O"Neill, K.Creaven and J.Kenny. Replacements used:- R.Byrne (for Kenny, inj.), L.Doran (for Hughes) and C.Murtagh (for Hynes).