2nd XV secure first win of the season
Letterkenny 2nd XV punished by clinical Armoy 2nd XV
Armoy 2nd XV took to the field on Saturday looking to build on the positive aspects of the previous weeks performance. There were a few changes to the starting line up with new signing Eoin O’Connor making his debut at out half and after absences of 1 and 2 years respectively Centre Paul Austin and winger Ryan McKinley both made their returned to the black and amber jersey.
The early stages of the match largely consisted of Letterkenny trying to find gaps in the Armoy defence and for the opening 15 minutes the dictated the play inside the Armoy half. But time after time they found that the door was firmly shut but the home team. The first score of the match came after 20 minutes as a result of Armoy’s first meaningful foray into the oppositions half. From a scrum just out side the Letterkenny 22 the ball was feed out to the backs who made some good ground. From the ensuing ruck the ball was again fed down the back line out to winger Ryan McKinley who evaded 2 would be tacklers torun over the line for an unconverted try. Armoy 5-0 Letterkenny.
Letterkenny didn’t have to wait very long to restore parity. From the kickoff some rare indecision in the Armoy backs led to a knock on 5 meters out. From the scrum the Armoy forwards successfully repelled the attack but when the ball found its way out to the Letterkenny back their big centre used his considerable size to crash over for an unconverted score.
Half Time Armoy 5-5 Letterkenny
Five minutes into the second half Armoy were awarded a scrum five meters from the Letterkenny line after their full back had knocked the ball on. It was from this scrum Armoy no 8 Mickey McGaughey picked up and drove over for a converted try.
Armoy 12-5 Letterkenny
Armoy now had the bit between their teeth and were laying siege inside the Letterkenny half. with 15 minutes to go Armoy were awarded a penalty just inside the Letterkenny 22 which was slotted over by Eoin O’Connor. This score left Armoy 2 scores in front going into the closing stages of the match.
Armoy 15-5 Letterkenny
Soon after this the game was halted to allow medical attention to the Letterkenny no 14 and Armoy hooker David Linton after a clash of heads in the tackle. Both players were unable to continue with the Letterkenny man suffering from a cut and concussion and David Linton later receiving 5 stiches to his cut.
Both teams were now down to 14 players and it was Armoy who best adapted to this.
From their own lineout on their 10 meter line the ball was given to veteran scrum half Tom Christie. He threw an exquisite dummy which fooled his opposite number and left him in yards of space.He passed to out half Eoin O’Connor who ran an equally exquisite angle from the Letterkenny 10 metre line to tear through the Letterkenny back line around the full back for an unconverted try.
Armoy 20-5 Letterkenny
The last play of the match resulted in the final try of the match. The ball was spilled by the Letterkenny backs as they tried to run out of their own half. The ball was spilled however and the Armoy forwards secured this and quickly passed out to centre Paul Austin he evaded one tackle and offloaded to winger Ryan McKinley who showed great strength to stretch over the line for his second score of the day.Which was converted by O’Connor
Final Score Armoy 2nd’s 27-5 Letterkenny 2nd’s
After the match Armoy 2nd XV captain Neil Porterfield congratulated his team on a great all round team performance but urged all players to do their best to attend training.
Next week sees a rest for the 2nd XV but the 1st XV make their first appearance of the season with a home cup tie against Belfast High School F.P in a repeat of last season. Lets hope for a repeat result.
