Match report
Lurgan v Limavady
Saturday, 4th September 2021
Limavady were on their travels again on Saturday as they visited Pollock Park, the home of Lurgan Rugby Club. Once again Limavady anticipated a difficult game and this proved to be the case. With only a few minutes on the clock Lurgan drew first blood when Dean Wilson scored the first try. This was duly converted to give Lurgan a lead by 7 points to nil. Limavady managed to get back on even terms within a short time. On their first foray into Lurgan’s half, following a strong carry by Jack McIntosh ,the ball was passed on to Luke Faulkner, and as he looked certain to score Lurgan’s centre made an illegal attempt to stop him. The referee quickly blew for a penalty try and yellow carded the Lurgan player.
Lurgan again took the lead when Stephen Nolan kicked a penalty. However from that point onwards Limavady took control of the game. By raising the tempo of the play three further tries were scored before half time. Ben Riley, playing a captain’s role, scored twice and the evergreen Jody McMurray the other.
Half Time 10.26
With the second half barely a few minutes old Jody McMurray took a quick tap penalty and raced through an unprepared defence to touch down under the posts. Peter Wilson converted to stretch the score to 10.33. Limavady seemed to ease the foot of the throttle at this point and allowed Lurgan to come back into the game. Centre, Ben McIlwaine broke the visitors’ defensive line to score a fine individual try , which Stephen Nolan converted. With no further points added the game ended 17.33
Limavady were delighted to come away with the bonus point win. As a unit the team played well with some fine individual performances. Jack McIntosh had an excellent game carrying with purpose and Luke Faulkner was to the fore running his back line with great efficiency. The back row of Joel Boucher, Jody McMurray and Ben Riley totally outplayed their counterparts, winning the battle for the loose ball.
Coaches, Graeme Eastwood and Peter Wilson were delighted with the win and in particular the quality of the play reflecting the work put in on the training pitch.
Next week, it’s the first home game of the season when Larne will be the welcome visitors to Limavady.
Limavady Team:
1-Clive Scott
2-Adam Millar
3-Jack McIntosh
4-Michael Rice
5-Jack Townley
6-Jody McMurray
7-Joel Boucher
8-Ben Riley (C)
9-Peter Wilson
10-Luke Faulkner
11-Joel Stirling
12-Jamie Millar
13-Ben Millar
14-Brandon Maxwell
15-Matthew Haslett
16-Adam McIlmoyle
17-John Purcell
Photos – Stephen Haslett
Match report – Trevor Wilson
