ARMAGH 17 INSTONIANS 16
Picture the situation: A gusting wind from the Palace end accompanied with driving rain saw Instonians take advantage with the wind on their backs from the kick-off. The rugby pundits tipped Armagh to take a home win following last Saturday's win against Sligo. Instonians, on the other hand, started off the game with a style of open, fast rugby usually provided from an Armagh team.Â
Five minutes into the game Armagh were caught entering a ruck improperly and the ...
ARMAGH 17 INSTONIANS 16 Picture the situation: A gusting wind from the Palace end accompanied with driving rain saw Instonians take advantage with the wind on their backs from the kick-off. The rugby pundits tipped Armagh to take a home win following last Saturday's win against Sligo. Instonians, on the other hand, started off the game with a style of open, fast rugby usually provided from an Armagh team. Five minutes into the game Armagh were caught entering a ruck improperly and the Instonians Kicker, Richard McCarthy quickly notched the first of three first half penalties. Fifteen minutes play and Armagh hadn't got into the Instonians half yet. To add insult to Armagh's problems the Instonians flanker scored a try just right of the posts which, again, the kick was accurate. Now Armagh were in real problems with the score at 0-16 at half time they had a very big hill to climb in the second half, albeit with the wind at their backs after the break. From the restart Armagh took the ball right to the Inst. line only to be turned over. An indication of the Instonians commitment was illustrated when their out-half was forced to leave the field shortly followed when two of their forwards collided with a clash of heads. Armagh's coach reshuffled the backs to bring Richard Reaney into the outhalf position and let Johnny Allen loose in the centre which appeared to bring new life into the side. Shortly after this Johnny scored a lovely try which Reaney kicked for another two points. With less than five minutes play left Stephen Morton forced his way over for try number two. Again the conversion was on target to put the score up to 14-16. Through a display of resolve, fitness, and sheer bloody mindedness Armagh suddenly came alive but Instonians still battled on bravely. Literally, in the last minute of the game Armagh took possession inside their own '22' and proceeded to pick and drive their laboriously up the field. They ha got just inside the Inst. half when the referee penalized an Inst. player for entering a ruck improperly. Now this penalty kick was to be the last kick of the game and was well to the right just inside the Inst. half with a swirling wind. No pressure on Richard Reaney or what! As the kick went over there was a mixture of emotions seldom experienced at a sporting event. Armagh had plucked a result from a game all but lost to a rampant Instonians side. Instonians had lost a game they had controlled for all but five minutes. Is it any wonder rugby is now the game growing in stature that it is? Armagh meet Instonians again this season when they play in the All-Ireland League, away. This January fixture promises to be one not to miss. Next Saturday sees Ards travel to the Palace Grounds to play in the Ulster Senior League.
OPHIR 48 CIVIL SERVICE 0 Last Saturday at the Cottonmount, Mallusk, Ophir First XV hosted Civil Service in the Kukri Qualifying league Section 4. Weather conditions were far from ideal for a rugby match, with a howling gale blowing cross pitch and intermittent heavy rain. But thanks to last year's major drainage scheme, the playing surface was as good as it could be. So far undefeated in all competitions this season, Ophir, supported by Biffa and MCW Properties, were facing a tough proposition - the match at Civil Service earlier in the season had been fiercely competitive and the home team was anticipating the same again. But against all expectations, it took only 6 minutes for Ophir to break through the Civil Service defence; scrumhalf Carl Davis touching down close to the corner flag. Fullback David Walker converted brilliantly against the wind. Four minutes later Davis repeated the exercise after some good recycling by the Ophir pack, but this time the conversion attempt missed 'by a mile'. Nevertheless, Ophir continued to dominate the opposition and with 20 minutes gone, Ophir outhalf James Milligan jinked through a couple of tackles to cross the line. And on the half hour, once again Davis proved impossible to stop as he added his third score to the Ophir tally. At the break, Ophir led 22-0. The second half was a mirror reflection of the first with Ophir applying all the pressure to the hard pressed Civil Service defence. Within five minutes number 8 Neil Gray took the ball from the base of a driving maul to crash over the line and second row Ken Morton did exactly the same 10 minutes later. Walker converted to put Ophir 34 points ahead. Up to this point, Civil Service had barely set foot in the Ophir half of the pitch, but suddenly that changed. From a poor looped Ophir pass close to the Service line, their scrum half intercepted and sprinted the length of the field. Over the 22m line he chipped ahead which gave the frantic Ophir defence a chance to clear the danger. They did, and in a real sickener for Civil Service as Ophir second row Paddy McCabe broke clear almost on his own line and ran the length of the pitch to score under the posts. David Walker converted and in a final flourish Davis crashed through three despairing tackles to score his fourth of the day. With Milligan's conversion the game ended 48-0 to Ophir.
ARMAGH 17 INSTONIANS 16 Picture the situation: A gusting wind from the Palace end accompanied with driving rain saw Instonians take advantage with the wind on their backs from the kick-off. The rugby pundits tipped Armagh to take a home win following last Saturday's win against Sligo. Instonians, on the other hand, started off the game with a style of open, fast rugby usually provided from an Armagh team. Five minutes into the game Armagh were caught entering a ruck improperly and the Instonians Kicker, Richard McCarthy quickly notched the first of three first half penalties. Fifteen minutes play and Armagh hadn't got into the Instonians half yet. To add insult to Armagh's problems the Instonians flanker scored a try just right of the posts which, again, the kick was accurate. Now Armagh were in real problems with the score at 0-16 at half time they had a very big hill to climb in the second half, albeit with the wind at their backs after the break. From the restart Armagh took the ball right to the Inst. line only to be turned over. An indication of the Instonians commitment was illustrated when their out-half was forced to leave the field shortly followed when two of their forwards collided with a clash of heads. Armagh's coach reshuffled the backs to bring Richard Reaney into the outhalf position and let Johnny Allen loose in the centre which appeared to bring new life into the side. Shortly after this Johnny scored a lovely try which Reaney kicked for another two points. With less than five minutes play left Stephen Morton forced his way over for try number two. Again the conversion was on target to put the score up to 14-16. Through a display of resolve, fitness, and sheer bloody mindedness Armagh suddenly came alive but Instonians still battled on bravely. Literally, in the last minute of the game Armagh took possession inside their own '22' and proceeded to pick and drive their laboriously up the field. They ha got just inside the Inst. half when the referee penalized an Inst. player for entering a ruck improperly. Now this penalty kick was to be the last kick of the game and was well to the right just inside the Inst. half with a swirling wind. No pressure on Richard Reaney or what! As the kick went over there was a mixture of emotions seldom experienced at a sporting event. Armagh had plucked a result from a game all but lost to a rampant Instonians side. Instonians had lost a game they had controlled for all but five minutes. Is it any wonder rugby is now the game growing in stature that it is? Armagh meet Instonians again this season when they play in the All-Ireland League, away. This January fixture promises to be one not to miss. Next Saturday sees Ards travel to the Palace Grounds to play in the Ulster Senior League.
OPHIR 48 CIVIL SERVICE 0 Last Saturday at the Cottonmount, Mallusk, Ophir First XV hosted Civil Service in the Kukri Qualifying league Section 4. Weather conditions were far from ideal for a rugby match, with a howling gale blowing cross pitch and intermittent heavy rain. But thanks to last year's major drainage scheme, the playing surface was as good as it could be. So far undefeated in all competitions this season, Ophir, supported by Biffa and MCW Properties, were facing a tough proposition - the match at Civil Service earlier in the season had been fiercely competitive and the home team was anticipating the same again. But against all expectations, it took only 6 minutes for Ophir to break through the Civil Service defence; scrumhalf Carl Davis touching down close to the corner flag. Fullback David Walker converted brilliantly against the wind. Four minutes later Davis repeated the exercise after some good recycling by the Ophir pack, but this time the conversion attempt missed 'by a mile'. Nevertheless, Ophir continued to dominate the opposition and with 20 minutes gone, Ophir outhalf James Milligan jinked through a couple of tackles to cross the line. And on the half hour, once again Davis proved impossible to stop as he added his third score to the Ophir tally. At the break, Ophir led 22-0. The second half was a mirror reflection of the first with Ophir applying all the pressure to the hard pressed Civil Service defence. Within five minutes number 8 Neil Gray took the ball from the base of a driving maul to crash over the line and second row Ken Morton did exactly the same 10 minutes later. Walker converted to put Ophir 34 points ahead. Up to this point, Civil Service had barely set foot in the Ophir half of the pitch, but suddenly that changed. From a poor looped Ophir pass close to the Service line, their scrum half intercepted and sprinted the length of the field. Over the 22m line he chipped ahead which gave the frantic Ophir defence a chance to clear the danger. They did, and in a real sickener for Civil Service as Ophir second row Paddy McCabe broke clear almost on his own line and ran the length of the pitch to score under the posts. David Walker converted and in a final flourish Davis crashed through three despairing tackles to score his fourth of the day. With Milligan's conversion the game ended 48-0 to Ophir.