Armagh seconds entertained Instonians seconds in a conference league game at the Palace grounds on Saturday. From the kick off, Instonians dominated possession and territory to put Armagh under some early pressure with stout defence required to keep the line intact. The game ebbed and flowed from one end of the pitch to the other with neither team able to make a decisive break through. However on 24 minutes, Jonny Clarke made a charge into the Inst 22 and from the ensuing ruck, Freddie Cuttle spotted a gap in the defence to dart through and touch down at the posts. Converting the try himself, Armagh led 7-0. The forwards were by now starting to make inroads into the Inst defence and on 30 minutes, good interplay with the backs led to Stephen Morton powering over mid way out for an unconverted try, 12-0. On the stroke of half time Simon Cuttle made a half break and when tackled, off loaded to John Faloon who raced in from 20 metres. Half time Armagh 17 Instonians 0. Coach David Eakin’s team talk focused on maintaining concentration and playing the game in the right area of the pitch as Inst always posed a threat when in possession of the ball.
In the second half, the Armagh front row of Purdy, Smyth and Carlisle were by now giving their opposite numbers a torrid time in the scrums. This led to good go forward ball for the backs to display their handling skills. On 52 minutes John Faloon came off his wing to create an overlap for Robbie Faloon to scorch in at the corner from 40 metres to bring the score to 22-0. Straight from the restart, the backline moved the ball out wide for fullback Josh Morton to come into the line and score a good try converted by Freddie Cuttle, 29-0. The mid field partnership of Ethan and Jonny Allen were impressive both in attack and defence throughout the game. Ethan was rewarded with two quick tries one of which was converted by Cuttle to bring the score to 41-0. With the Armagh team in full flow another try quickly followed from Freddie cuttle, a carbon copy of his first try. With the conversion added the referee sounded the final whistle to end the game early. Final score Armagh 2s 48, Instonians 2s 0.
This was another great performance from the seconds with excellent skill levels on display from both forwards and backs. Next up is Hollywood in the conference league on Saturday at home with a 2.30 start.
