Armagh seconds continued their good form when they entertained Hollywood in the conference league on Saturday. The game started at a furious pace the Armagh forwards taking on Hollywood up front establishing a foothold in the visitors 22. With the defence having worked hard to repell Armagh, John Faloon came off his wing to take a ball in the centre cutting through to score at the posts. Converted by Matthew Steenson, Armagh had an early 7 – 0 lead. On 18 minutes Robbie Faloon standing in at scrum half for the day, broke though several tackles from 5 metres out to stretch over and touch down. Steenson converted for a 14 – 0 lead. By now Hollywood were adjusting to the speed and intensity of the game and started to make Armagh work defensively. It wasn’t until the 35th minute when Armagh troubled the Hollywood line again when after several forward drives, the hard working Simon Carlisle scored an unconverted try in the corner 19 – 0. With the half time whistle about to sound, the home backline moved the ball from deep in their own half. John Faloon took the ball out wide linking with Jonny Allen who turned on the gas to scorch in from the half way line. With a good conversion from Steenson, the half time score was 26 – 0 to Armagh.
On the restart a rejuvenated Hollywood upped the ante and put Armagh under long spells pressure. Several times early in the half Armagh had to defend their line with Morton, Hill, Martin and Clarke prominent in the forwards and the half backs of Robbie Faloon and Simon Cuttle clearing the ball up field. It wasn’t until the 73rd minute when Matthew Steenson and John Faloon combined to send Josh Morton in at the far corner 31 – 0. With Hollywood now showing signs of fatigue, the backs and forwards again linked to send Andrew Smyth in for a try at the posts converted by Steenson. Final score Armagh 38 Hollywood 0.
Another good result for the 2s although ball handling and continuity were not as good as in previous games. Credit must be given to Hollywood for making a comeback in the second half and making Armagh work for their late scores. It is imperative that attendance at training is ramped up in the build up for the towns cup game in two weeks time. Next up is Strabane in the conference league next Saturday with a 1pm start.
