Match report – Trevor Wilson
Photos (c) – Steve Haslett
Limavady v Lurgan
Saturday, 9th April 2022
On another beautiful Saturday afternoon for rugby Limavady welcomed Lurgan to the John Hunter Memorial grounds. This was the final game in the league campaign. The game probably meant more to Lurgan than Limavady as they still had a chance of making the play-offs, however Limavady were also determined to complete their league season unbeaten so the game was set up for an entertaining afternoon.
Lurgan were the first to get the score board ticking over as they slotted over a penalty. Limavady responded well and following a good line break by Jody McMurray, Brandon Maxwell was on hand to run in the first try. Lurgan regained the lead as they were successful with another penalty. Captain, Ben Riley was next on the score line as he finished well, and shortly after this Jody McMurray did excellently as he managed to hold off two would be tacklers to score under the posts. Once again Limavady continued to give away needless penalties and with a strong boot by Lurgan’s out half he managed to keep his side within touching distance. The final ten minutes of the half though belonged to Limavady as they scored two further tries, through firstly Jody McMurray again following good link play by Ben Riley and Michael Shiels and on the stroke of half time Joel Stirling managed to evade the visitor’s defence to touch down near the posts. These last two tries were converted by Matthew Haslett to leave the half-time score 29.9 in Limavady’s favour.
Lurgan started the stronger in the second half and were rewarded with two tries, firstly through Simon Cartnell and then Mark McIlwaine. Limavady settled and began to get a grip on the game again. Michael Shiels was on hand to crash over following a five metre scrum. Limavady’s final try of the afternoon came from Jim McCartney as he latched on to a Lurgan mis-field of a high up and under and with the ball breaking kindly Jim gathered the loose ball to run in under the posts. Matthew Haslett was again successful with the conversions of these two tries. The final scoring of the game came from Lurgan’s Richard Hull to leave the final score at 43.26
So, with the league games out of the way and Limavady remaining unbeaten they now go into the play offs. Next Saturday sees them face Donaghadee in Limavady with Coleraine taking on Ballymoney in the other semi-final.
Limavady 2nds also returned an excellent victory beating an up to now unbeaten Queens side. Final score, Limavady 11 Queens 7. Limavady’s try scorer was Andrew Miller
