On a warm sunny Saturday at Stormont, Civil Service 1st XV stepped out onto the pitch looking to build upon their hard fought 17v7 win the previous week away in Armoy while in their path lay a determined Cavan team.
Following a scruffy kick off which Service allowed to bounce into touch, some early pressure from Cavan told when they were awarded a penalty on the 22 and this was duly dispatched by their winger. Undeterred by this early setback club captain Michael Murray rallied his troops and the early penalty was to prove the solitary score for Cavan on an afternoon marked by some fantastic champagne rugby from this developing Service side.
The first try of the afternoon was scored after some fantastic work from Service no.8 Phil Patterson whose slick offload put winger Dan Cartland in a footrace for the corner and his deceiving turn of pace saw him beat 4 Cavan defenders to the line, Johnny Armstrongs’ resulting conversion was quickly followed by 2 well struck penalties to take Service 10 points clear of the visitors.
Great pressure from Services forwards saw them back scrummaging on Cavans 5 yard line and some terrific work from the Service front row of Trevor McDowell, Sam Boyd and Jonathan Cartwright pushed the Cavan defence back towards their line where a smart inside pass from the increasingly influential Flyhalf Johnny Armstrong saw centre Chris Burns cross the whitewash for his first of the day.
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Cavan responded well and produced some great phases of play and pushed Service back down the pitch, however their hard work was undone when Dan Cartland pounced to intercept the ball on his own 22 and out paced the desparing Cavan defence to ground under the posts. From the resulting restart Captain Michael Murray gathered the loose ball and, supported by Hamish Matheson and Stuart Lappin, crashed into the Cavan defence where the ball was quickly recycled by Alastair Montgomery allowing Moore Holmes to break down the left flank before the ball was taken on by Chris Burns who released Flyhalf Jonny Armstrong to score his first try for the club.
Half Time Civil Service 34 Cavan 3
Service set about the second half with gusto and the points continued after some good work in the lineout was finished by stong direct running from fullback Peter Hoskins. The lineout was to once again prove affective when from just ten yards out Michael Murray flicked the ball down into the arms of Phil Patterson who span it out to the waiting Moore Holmes who used his strength to burst through the Cavan defence to score. His second was to follow shortly after when during a fantastic solo effort he single handedly beat 8 defenders before scoring under the posts.
Not to be outdone Peter Hoskins quickly added his second before Chris Burns followed suit from an audacious flick from Dan Cartland as Services backline ran riot against a dispirited Cavan team. The demolition was completed when Dan, despite being on for a hatrick, unselfishly offloaded to centre Brian Bogle to score in the corner. This difficult kick was to prove the only blot on the copy book of the other wise fantastic Jonny Armstrong who finished the game with 29 points scoring 1 try, 2 penalties and 9 conversions.
