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Youth’s Fixtures

02/03/2016

Longford U17 v Portlaoise (Home)

05/03/2016

Longford U13 v Carlow (Away)

Longford U14 v TBA

Longford U15 v Tullamore (Home)

Longford U16 v Cill Dara (Away)

Youth’s Results

Longford U14 05 Wicklow 10

Longford U16 00 Naas 50

Match Reports

U14 Leinster League

Longford 05 Wicklow 10 

Having defeated Wicklow, in Wicklow, earlier in the season this was a game which Longford would have been expected to win but despite enjoying a greater share of possession and territory, particularly in the second half, they somehow managed to lose and, in so doing, have seriously jeopardised their chances of advancing to the final stages of this year’s Leinster League.  Even wins against Kilkenny and Naas in the final fixtures will not guarantee a semi final place because Wicklow are now very much back in the hunt for second spot.

Wicklow’s win came courtesy of tries from what were their only scoring opportunities throughout the game and what was really disappointing from Longford’s point of view was the fact that both scores came from breaks out of defence which could have been, but were not, closed down early enough.  As has often been the case this year, Longford were slow to get into their stride but after 10 minutes found themselves hammering away on the Wicklow line.  On a couple of occasions they were held up short of the try line and just when it looked like they would prevail from another pick and drive the support was slow to arrive and when Wicklow stole possession from the ruck they ran the entire length of the pitch for the proverbial sucker punch try.  In fairness to Longford, however, they regrouped quickly.  A penalty and a kick to touch yielded a 5m lineout and a quickly taken throw by Mark McHugh to JJ Jackson resulted in a try wide out in the corner.

Having overcome the disappointment of the breakaway try, and having quickly clawed their way back into the game, one would have thought that Longford would have pressed on in the second half.  For the first 20 minutes of the second period they were very much in control.  A steady scrum gave plenty of go forward ball to Ciaran McCormack from the base at number 8 and a totally dominant lineout gave plenty of possession through JJ Jackson, James Doyle and Ciaran Shannon.  In fairness to Wicklow, however, they were up for the battle and from 1 to 15 didn’t shy away from putting in tackles when needed.  Indeed, it was a notable feature of their play throughout the day that even their smallest players didn’t shy away from tackling Longford’s big ball carriers such as James Doyle, Jack McManus and Ciaran McCormack.  Leading the defensive effort for Longford were Dylan Fay, Ciaran Shannon, Jamie Byrne and Daire McManus but with Wicklow well organised in defence Longford were seldom able to launch a back line movement with any degree of penetration.  Without actually scoring, despite having had the upper hand for over 20 minutes, there was always the possibility that the game could be turned on its head and so it came to pass.  Again, Longford were to lose possession close to the Wicklow line and the defence was found wanting when the Wicklow backs moved the ball wide and ran the length of the pitch for their second unconverted try.  With only a few minutes remaining Longford hammered away in search of the score which could have won the match but despite camping themselves on or near the Wicklow line for the last few minutes they could not make the breakthrough.

It was unfortunate that two lapses in concentration and defensive organisation were to prove so costly at the end of the day but wins in the remaining few games could be enough for Longford to sneak through.  It depends on other results, however.

Squad: Gary Kenny, Mark McHugh, Jack McManus, Ciaran Shannon, JJ Jackson, Dylan Fay, Conor Cox, Ciaran McCormack, Ben Carthy, Ultan O’Sullivan’s, Daire McManus, Shane Mallon, James Doyle, Jack Sullivan, Fionn Hourican, Ryan Dempsey, Jamie Byrne, Killian Rawle.