Sat 19th Oct, 2:30pm. Larne 86 – 3 Civil Service
Larne 86 v 3 Civil Service by Roy Lawton
Glum Day In Glynn
It was another disappointing display from a much changed Service side on Saturday when they travelled to face Larne in the Gordon West Cup.
CLICK HERE for superb action shots from this game
Last minute cry-offs and unavailability’s don’t help, but that aside, Service players are going to have to be more resilient and find that inner self-belief and start playing with more heart and determination and stop giving up (mentally) even before the game has commenced if they want to mount a serious challenge to the Qualifying 4 league title.
While this may have been a Cup game, it doesn’t send out much of a message to the other league contenders that Service are anything other than beatable.
Stopping when mistakes are made and standing off something even ‘before’ the whistle is blown, is foolhardy and allows the opposition to capitalise on an unravelling situation. Play the whistle, how many times must this be repeated before it sinks in!!!
Service’s best period of play, and yes it was a good period, came in the first 15 minutes of the second half when they hammered at the door of the Larne try line for what seemed an eternity as they tried to salvage something from this hitherto shambolic display.
Some good work by the forwards almost paid off and when the visitors were awarded a penalty, 5m out in front of the posts, instead of going for goal or regrouping for a charge at the line, a quick tap and go was poorly executed by an isolated Service player and the ball found it’s way into opposition hands and ended up at the other end of the pitch grounded under the Service sticks. Ye Olde red mist has a lot to answer for.
Late in the game, Service rallied once more and were rewarded with a consolation penalty which Peter Hoskins despatched neatly between the uprights to get something on the board at least. By now though, it was too little too late.
When they play (when they play) they can produce some good quality rugby, so why not play with a bit more intensity for longer periods and get that feel good factor going throughout the entire game.
Service must regroup, and quickly, before the arrival of Armoy in the league next week and a huge response is now demanded of every player, to show what they’re made of. One can only take so much humiliation, so enough is enough please chaps, you are much better than this.
Some players worthy of note include Bryn Sturgeon, Paul Culbert, Stevie Lawton, Stewart Moody and Kenny Dane. All five put in a reasonable shift on the day albeit they were called up at the last minute and with one or two having to play completely out of position also.
Thanks are extended to the hosts Larne, who were well organised and deserved their victory (but not all 86 points), the match official, Ciaran the medic and the touchline faithful. Hopefully something to cheer and write about soon.
Team:- Brendan Smith, Jonny Cartwright, Trevor McDowell, Bryn Sturgeon, Paul Culbert, Matthew Robinson, Stewart Moody, Hamish Matheson (c) Steven Lawton, Stevie Powell, Chris Burns, les magowan, Kenny Dane, Conor Kerr and Peter Hoskins.
Sat 19th Oct, 11:00am. Omagh 64 – 22 Civil Service
Service unable to hang onto Omagh by Michael Curran
I had spent a hour writing a match report only for it to disappear into the electronic atmosphere!!
Anyways a 19 strong Service Colts squad along with Joe and Connor’s dad, Todd’s dad, Chris’ dad and Mattie’s mum and sister made the 0830 bus for Omagh.
Now that we were veterans of such journeys (well all but Ben Watson who was making his Service debut) we hoped that we would be able to get the journey out of our legs quickly.
Unfortunately that was wishful thinking when 2 minutes into the match the nimble Omagh right winger scored under the posts.
Another two Omagh tries followed in quick succession before the Service Colts woke up.
A combination of forward and back play resulted in a Service penalty on the Omagh 22. Josh saw an opportunity, took a quick tap and jinked round four Omagh players to score under the posts.
This was his first Service try and hopefully there will be many more. The try was converted by Jake (our first successful kick of the season!).
Service were on the up. More good play with the forwards driving the ball up to the Omagh 10 metre line. The ball was released out the backs and Joe joined the line at speed, crashing through some despairing Omagh tackles before diving over the line Chris Ashton style.
At the first interval the score was Omagh 24 – Service 12.
The second period of play started brightly for the Colts with the forwards particularly dominant particularly Jonny, Ben and Chris.
Kai and Jamie were showing potential as a very solid centre partnership.
However Omagh were still able to exploit space out wide as Service allowed themselves to get sucked into the contact areas.
After several forward phases of play Mattie picked up from a ruck five metres out, committed two tacklers before popping the ball to Jake. No one was going to stop him from there.
The second interval ended with the score Omagh 38 – Service 17.
The third period didn’t start well for the Colts. A couple of quick Omagh tries dented any hopes of a dramatic fightback.
Even though tiredness was kicking in the Colts continued to press on. Ben was held up inches from the line but did well to get the ball back. From the ensuing ruck Mattie dived over.
At the final whistle Omagh had triumphed by 64 points to 22. However this did not reflect the amount of possession Service had, their dominance in the scrums, lineouts and rucks or their passing and tackling when they were in the right positions.
Each match is teaching us a little more about ourselves and about the team and shows us how much we have learnt since our last match.
Let’s keep learning!
