Armagh travelled deep into Munster on Saturday to play their twelfth game in the Ulster Bank All-Ireland League. They played this fixture against Nenagh Ormond who sat in the sixth in the league whereas Armagh were seen to be in eleventh spot. This was always going to be a difficult fixture considering the long journey south. Armagh’s recent strong form, however, with wins against Ards and Belfast Harlequins had boosted their confidence not to mention last month’s draw against Rainey Old Boys in Magherafelt.
Nenagh kicked off and after only two minutes play a miss-directed Armagh clearance kick was gathered by the home full back, Steve Carey, who ran the length of the field and passed the ball to his winger who touched down in Armagh’s corner. The conversion went wide but with only three minutes on the clock, things did not look well for Armagh with the scoreboard reading 5-0 to the home side. After twenty odd minutes of scrappy play from both sides Armagh were awarded a penalty. From the resultant line-out Phil Hill led a rolling maul which crossed the Nenagh line for Armagh’s first try. Full back Johnny Steenson converted to bring the score to 5-7. Just six minutes later Armagh’s hooker, Andrew Smyth touched down only to have the try disallowed when the touch judge raised his flag indicating that Smyth had strayed into touch. However Armagh were showing a fair degree of confidence but this was short lived when Armagh were penalised and the Nenagh’s out half’s kick put the score to 8-7.
Twenty minutes into the second half saw James McBriar put a deftly placed kick across the pitch which was gathered by winger Matthew Irwin who touched down under the Nenagh posts. Again, Steenson’s conversion was on target to bring the score to 8-14. The last quarter of the game saw Nenagh exert strong pressure but Armagh’s defence held firm and the final score Nenagh 8 Armagh 14 represented a strong confidence booster for the young Armagh side.
The win raised Armagh into the ninth spot in the league. With three more fixtures to play against Naas, Suttonians and Highfield. The final league positions will certainly be very interesting! The loss of the league points squandered in the games against Connemara, Boyne and Navan now seem all the more costly! However, the benefit of this win to Armagh in their first season in senior rugby cannot be overstated.
