Turnovers and defensive lapses cost Lurgan Monaghan 48 Lurgan 7 Having made a promising start to the season Lurgan were dealt a heavy eight try defeat on Saturday on the road at Monaghan, Writes Paddy Allen.
The visitors had to make several changes to the side that won comfortably the previous week with centres Scott Gardiner (broken nose) and Dean Swift (unavailable) with debuts given to Lurgan College player Greg Lyness and Danny Andrews. On the right wing Leor Ovadia came in for Chris Wamsley (unavailable) and in the pack second row Danny Reid (shoulder) was replaced by Aaron Robinson. Lurgan found themselves five tries and 29 – 0 behind at the break and with a real mountain to climb in the back forty.
Slideshow of pictures from MONAGHAN vs LURGAN & Lurgan FANCY DRESS party
Four of the home sides first half tries came from Lurgan mistakes or turnovers inside the Monaghan half and when the ball was spread by the home backs Lurgan failed to deal with their pace and power. A further two tries followed in similar fashion in the opening 20 minutes of the second half to take the score to 43 – 0 before Lurgan got on the board on 71 minutes when Andrews dove over under the posts with Stephen Nolan converting after Lurgan were able to hold on to the ball following a number of phases. This was something they had failed to do for most of the afternoon as the odd pass was forced instead of building up the phases and securing the ball and with the set pieces in the lineout struggling and at times also the scrums Lurgan just failed to get going. The home side scored their eighth try of the match on 76 minutes to complete the scoring and the referee brought the game to an end following another missed conversion.
The bottom half of the above picture has been removed you will have to ask Lurgan RFC why!
Lurgan did show glimpses of what they can do in the second half but in the front forty it surely has to be the worst 40 minutes for many a season! Lurgan team: R Clarke, L Ovadia, G Lyness, D Andrews, J Kingham; S Nolan, C Jenks; G Currie (C), J Kane, A Mackey, C Mallon, A Robinson, M Campbell, J Pedlow, K McBride. Antrim next up for Lurgan Antrim are the visitors to Pollock Park in Kukri Qualifying three A this Saturday November 6. Having played in the Minor league for the last number of seasons Antrim have rejoined the qualifying league and Lurgan will look to get back to winning ways and be strong favourites to overcome there opponents on Saturday. Hopefully the injury list does not start to grow and some of the players will be back on the pitch sooner rather than later and with a bit more commitment shown from the players on match days the Pollock Park side will be able to sustain a settled side and build momentum for what will be a tough second quarter of the season with many away trips in the league ahead.
Lurgan II XV 5 v Monaghan II XV 14
Seconds also leave empty handed Having been 7 – 0 down at half time Lurgan seconds fought back to 7 – 5 against Monaghan seconds following a try for Richie Francis. Another converted try from the home side saw them run out 14 – 5 winners and leave Lurgan seconds struggling at the bottom end of Magners Junior league five. Results: Kukri Qualifying three A: Monaghan 48 Lurgan 7. Magners Junior league five: Monaghan II 14 Lurgan II 5. Fixtures Saturday November 6: Kukri Qualifying three A: Lurgan vs Antrim. Magners Junior five: Enniskillen III vs Lurgan. Both kick off 2:30pm.
