Injuries Marr Opening Day Win
Limavady 43 Civil Service 17
Under normal circumstances an opening day a six try bonus point victory would be considered a job well done and a fine day at the office, but unfortunately this was not to be the case last Saturday afternoon at the John Hunter Memorial Grounds.
Twenty minutes into the season No 8 Karl Miller made a tackle and as he went to ground twisted his knee. This caused a ten minute delay to the game as due care had to be taken to carry him from the field of play. Later in the evening the worst fears were confirmed when it was confirmed that Karl hard torn the medial ligaments in his right knee as well as dislocating his knee cap. We wish Karl all the best with his rehab.
The twenty minutes before hand had gone so well to for the Roesiders. 10-0 up after a breakaway try from the returning Ryan McCool and Tom McClelland landing a conversion and a penalty. Limavady were well on top and were punching holes all over the Service backline. But the break in play stopped the momentum and gave the visitors a chance to regroup, and two minutes after the restart their openside flanker scored a try following a lineout. Aided by the breeze the men from Stormont had their tails up and Limavady struggled for long periods to get out of their own half, but they dug in deep defensively, despite being a man down and at the break, they still held a slender 10-7 lead.
There was further rejigging for Head Coach Paul O’Kane to do at the break as right on the half time whistle blindside flanker and debutant Sheagh McLaughlin having to go off with a shoulder injury, thus meaning the homeside had to play the second half with 13 men. Some intelligent person at Ravenhill thinks that there is no need for subs to be allowed in Qualifying Section 3. Lets just say the clubs respectfully disagree.
The lads received a stern talking to at the break as the performance of the last twenty minutes was simply well below the expected level. O’kane asked for a positive response and what a response he got as in the first ten minutes of the second half he saw his team score three tries as his chargers produced a display of running rugby similar to the one that brought them victory at Ravenhill last April. Right winger Tom McClelland raced clear to get the first two tries which he converted himself, and then on 50mins the all important bonus point was secured when Stewart Roddy stormed over for try number four.
Service clawed their way back into the game on 66mins when their out-half touched the ball down, but the response was immediate from the home team with try number five. This time it was the turn of the forwards to get in on the act as great play from Johnny Blair and captain Daniel Irvine released tight head John McCollum who finished more like a winger than a prop.Tom McClelland added another conversion for a 36-12 advantage as we entered the last ten minutes of play.
The thirteen men were starting to tire and Civil Service took advantage of this on 76 minutes and after picking up from the base of a scrum, their No 8 touched down for a fine individual score. The visitors had their tails up again and they knew one more try would get them a bonus point, but it was to be the homeside who were to get the final score, and what a score. Winger Tom McClelland claimed a hat-trick after beating the advances of three Service backs to round off a superb display. By adding the conversion he brought his personal tally for the day to 28 points. A fine days work indeed.
Full time Limavady 43 Civil Service 17
Not much time to dwell on this game as the 1st XV are back in action on Wednesday evening when they travel to Banbridge to face Newry. Kick off is at 8pm.
Head coach Paul O’Kane knows that improvement is vital if they are to record another win. Newry are an up and coming team who have had some fine success at underage the past number of years and will be relishing in taking on last seasons Gordon West Cup winners.
Team J. Stirling. T. McClelland. R. McCool. I. Miller. S. Roddy. B. Wilson. D. Craig. R. Boyd. J. Blair. J.McCollum. M. Rice. C. Scott. S. McLaughlin. D. Irvine. K. Miller.
