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PICS (c) Steve Haslett
Match Report
Limavady v Randalstown
Saturday 6th October 2018
On a beautiful autumnal day at the John Hunter Memorial Grounds two unbeaten sides this year came head to head. Randalstown having played a game more than Limavady topped the table by two points. With an excellent start to the season so far Limavady began the game confident of getting a good result and this indeed proved to be the case. Mark Woods was the first to trouble the score board when he rounded his opposite number and crossed in under the posts. With the conversion good this set the tone for the rest of the match. Eight minutes later would see Limavady stretch their lead further when Bob Lamberton used his strength to break through the Randalstown defence to score his fourth try of the season. Randalstown tried to disrupt Limavady’s style of play however struggled to cope with the speed that the ball was moved from one player to the next. Peter Wilson was the catalyst for the next try when he sniped in midfield and broke away before feeding an inside pass to the supporting Lamberton who was able to touch down for his second try of the game. Exciting rugby continued and as a result of a mistake in the Randalstown defence Daniel Irvine was first to react and recover the loose ball which enabled him to score the bonus point try. With twenty five minutes now gone Randalstown chose to avoid the whitewash when they opted to kick a penalty through their Outhalf, Martin Connolly. This was only a brief respite however as Limavady came back on the attack. John Purcell picked the ball up in his own half and showed tremendous strength as he handed off several would be defenders to see clear space ahead. As he knew he wouldn’t have the legs to make it all the way to the try line he unselfishly off-loaded to Matthew Haslett who finished off the move with another five points to leave Limavady comfortably 29 points to 3 in the lead at half time.
Randalstown, having received a strong talking to at half time from former Ulster Rugby stalwart, Gary Longwell, began to put up more of a dogged fight. However Limavady defended strongly and from deep in the own 22 managed to break free. Luke Faulkner put in a speculative kick ahead and to his credit Adam Miller chased this down. With the bounce of the rugby ball falling kindly into his hands he sprinted in to stretch the lead even further. Randalstown continued to peg away and were rewarded with a try of their own when second row, Scott McClenaghan, capitalised on a rare moment on slack concentration in the home defence to score his sides only try of the afternoon. With twenty minutes still remaining Limavady wanted to finish on the front foot and this was achieved with two further tries. Daniel Irvine was on hand to finish off another fine team move to score his second. The final try of the game summed up the attitude which has been instilled in the players this year by new coach Graeme Eastwood. The desire for more was demonstrated when Man of the Match, Bob Lamberton showed great strength of character as he fought his way through three attempts at tackles to score his hatrick try. Luke converted with the final kick of the game to leave the final score 48.8.
It’s now back to the training field for the players as they prepare for the visit of Academy next Saturday. Academy have also started well this season so Limavady know another strong performance will be required.
