Unbeaten league leaders Lurgan were the visitors to the Hunter Memorial Grounds on Saturday. With a team high on confidence and a big aggressive pack, the home side knew they were in for a tough afternoon.
And it was the home side that struck first blood after just four minutes. Out half Luke Faulkner popped a ball to Peter Wilson who broke through two tackles to touch down for a perfect start. Try number two wasn’t long in coming either. Lurgan were on the attack but a stubborn home defence forced a turnover and Peter Wilson kicked on into the Lurgan half. He still had a lot of work to do as he was being chased by two covering Lurgan backs, but helped by some nifty soccer skills Peter was able to win the race to score his second try of the day. Luke Faulkner added the extras for a 12-0 lead.
Despite being ahead on the scoreboard, it was Lurgan who were owning much of the ball, and only some frantic defending and a try saving tackle from Ross Moore was denying the Armagh men a deserved score. But Limavady we there’s the storm and on 30mins Luke Faulkner landed a pertly from inside his own half for a 15-0 lead.
Lurgan eventually got a score that their play deserved from a penalty in front of the Limavady posts, but the Roesiders got the games next score and what a crucial one it was. Chrissy Hunter linked up with Iain Campbell and marked his first game in six weeks with a try in the corner.
At half time Limavady lead 20-3.
Lurgan came out the stronger after the half time break and scored a try of their own after exposing some poor defence in the Limavady back line to score a deserved try. But any hope they had in making a comeback were dashed ten minutes later when good work from Greg Jordan and Peter Wilson put new boy Ross Moore in the clear to score try number four. With Luke Faulkner adding the conversion, Limavady now lead 27-8 and were in total control of the game. There was still time for one more score. A scrum on Lurgan’s five metre line saw No8 John Purcell pick up from the base of the scrum and crash over for his first try of the season.
Final Score Limavady 32 Lurgan 8
Team: G. Jordan, I. Miller, P. Wilson. C. Hunter. R. Moore. L. Faulkner, J. Miller. L. Clyde, I. Campbell, C. Scott, D. Miller, M. McCollum, D. Irvine, B. Hamilton, J. Purcell.
Other results from Saturday saw the seconds go down to Academy seconds 9-6, while the Saracens lost out to Letterkenny seconds in a cracking Derby game 26-22.
One game next week and what a massive one it is too. It is the last group game of the Gordon West Cup and the firsts entertain Larne with a 2.30pm. All support welcome.
