Armoy battled hard against a formidable Inishowen team to retain their Ulster Minor league north Champions title at City of Derry RFC on Tuesday night.
Straight from the off it was the men from Lime Park who put their opponents to the sword. It would be fair to say that it was Armoy who kept Inishowen on the defensive in their own half for the opening 10 minutes of what was always going to be a very physical encounter. But for the pressure Armoy threw at Inishowen the men from Donegal held firm and repelled their attackers. It was after 10 minutes that Inishowen managed to break clear after a great run from their big inside centre. He was eventually felled 10 meters out from the Armoy line. In previous encounters this season he had been the key to Inishowens good fortune, but on this occasion the spirit within the Armoy side was different with each and every player in black and gold willing to put their bodies on the line to ensure that we would not fail. Eventually after 30 minutes of toing and froing from both teams Armoy were awarded a penalty 30 meters out. Up stepped full back John Wallace to slot the ball straight and true through the uprights. From the resultant kick off the ball rolled out for a line out for Armoy. They secured their own ball and presented out to the backs. From the resultant maul on the half way line the ball was ripped clear by Armoy wing forward Daniel Ramage who went on a carachteristic run with ball in hand. He broke through three tackles virtue of his strength and pace to find himself clear to race under the posts for a converted try.
Half time
Armoy 10 Inishowen 0.
The second half was more of the same from both sides with Inishowen eager to claw their way back into the match and Armoy eager to increase on their tally.It was evident by their very body language that Inishowen were finding increasingly difficult to make good ground as the Armoy defensive held firm and tackled ferociously whenever Inishowen had the ball. After 15 minutes of the second half Armoy edged a further 3 points in front courtesy of a John Wallace penalty. After this the Armoy players sensed that the Inishowen heads were begining to drop and Armoy were in the mood to go in for the kill. Sure enough the decisive blow was dealt by the Armoy backs who passed the ball out down the line into the hand of Full back John Wallace who burst into the line at pace into the 22. He then threw a dummy which bought him enough time to out wit the Inishowen defence and over into the corner for an unconverted score.
Full time
Armoy 18 Inishowen 0
After the match Inishowen were very gracious in defeat and we wish them well for the future. It was unfortunate for them that as many of the Army of spectators who travelled from Armoy noted that it was one of the best performances that they had seen from an Armoy team for a number of years.
Armoy now have the not unconsiderable task of playing Ballyclare IV on Saturday in the Semi finals of the Ravenhill cup. Only a similar performance to the one that was delivered in Derry will suffice against one of the best sides in Junior/Minor league rugby.
On behalf of Gareth Christie and all the players we would like to than all of our supporters for the encouragement the have provided this season and we look forward to their continued support in the future.
