Longford RFC Mini/Youth Notes 23/10/16   25/10/2016

Mini Training

Mini’s Training continues on Sunday’s at 10.15am. This is for all U7’s, U8’s, U9’s, U10’s, U11’s and U12’s. All new players are welcome – just be at the Rugby Club on Sunday morning and bring a gum shield. Hilary Davis is the Mini’s Co-ordinator and can be contacted at (087) 2535859

Youth Training

Youth Training days & times are as follows – New Players welcome just come along

U13 (Born 2004)                     Monday & Wednesday 7.30 PM         

U14 (Born 2003)                     Wednesday 7.30 PM              

U15 (Born 2002)                     Monday & Wednesday 7.30 PM

U16 (Born 2001)                     Tuesday & Thursday 7.30 PM

U17 (Born 2000)                     Thursday 7.30PM

U18 ½                                     Monday & Wednesday 7.30 PM 

Longford RFC Sports Gear

The full range of Longford RFC gear (Shorts, Socks, Training Tops, T Shirts etc.) can be ordered on-line at www.uniformity.ie  

Youth’s Fixtures 

Sat 29th Oct

U13’s vs. Tullamore (Home)

U14’s vs. Tullow (Away)

U15’s vs. Roscrea (Away)

U16’s vs. Boyne (Home)

U17’s vs. Dundalk (Away)

U18’s vs. Skerries (Away)

Youth’s Results

Longford U14            14                    Tullamore               28

Longford U15            22                    Dundalk                       50

Longford U15            29                    Wilson ’s Hospital      24

Longford U16            12                    Portarlington              24

Match Reports

Longford U15    29       Wilsons Hospital U15      24

The U15 squad had a very useful training match last Monday week against the Wilsons Hospital U15’s and, after a see-saw battle, Longford emerged victorious on a 29 – 24 scoreline.  The game presented an ideal opportunity to incorporate newcomers into the squad and in that respect Seamus McKeon and Oisin McDonnell acquitted themselves very well in what was their first serious outing of rugby.  Indeed, the former capped an excellent and workmanlike performance with the first try of the game, muscling his way over in the corner after good footwork by Ultan O’Sullivan brought play to the opposition line.  Longford extended their lead to 12 - nil with a try beneath the posts from Daire McManus but Wilsons Hospital regrouped and brought the sides level with two tries the first, once again, the product of slack tackling and the second following a quickly taken tap penalty.

Having clawed themselves into the game the home side then took control with two unanswered tries, the first a blind side break by their impressive No 8, the second following a well placed kick ahead which bounced favourably.

The final 20 minutes, however, saw Longford regain complete control and three tries, two of which were converted, saw them claw back the 12 point deficit for a five point lead.  The first came from Ryan Dempsey who muscled his way over following a succession of rucks on the Wilsons try line.  The second came from Daire McManus and the winning score came from JJ Jackson.

Squad: Gary Kenny, Ciaran Shannon, J J Jackson, Dylan Fay, Ciaran McCormack, Ben Carthy, Ultan O’Sullivan, Daire McManus, Thomas McDermott, Ryan Dempsey, Killian Rawle, Frank Patterson, Charlie Patterson, Maksymilian Napieralski, Johnny Greer, Cathal Byrne, Kieran Reen, Seamus McKeon, Joshua Gray, Oisin McDonnell.

U15 Leinster League

Longford U15     22       Dundalk U15      50

Longford’s U15’s made the long trip to Dundalk for their first game in this year’s Leinster League and, unfortunately, suffered a comprehensive defeat.  Most of Longford’s problems were self-inflicted - very, very slack tackling in the first half and, apart from the early stages of the second half, a distinct lack of urgency in their overall play.

Despite all of this, it was actually Longford who had by far the greater share of territory and possession in the early stages and their efforts were justly rewarded after five minutes when Shane Mallon crossed for a try in the corner after good rucking and support play.  From the 10th minute onwards it was all one way traffic, however, with Dundalk crossing for five unanswered tries, three of which were converted, to leave Longford with a huge 29 – 5 deficit at the interval.  All the tries, without exception were preventable if Longford had, in the first instance, closed down the space for the Dundalk backs and then properly executed a one on one tackle.

A feature of Dundalk ’s play throughout the 60 minutes was their support play and offload prior to contact.  Far too often, however, Longford sought the contact option and far too often the ball was, either, lost in possession or got bogged down in a slow ruck which allowed the Dundalk defence time to reorganise.  Dundalk ’s offloading and support game, however, gave Longford little time to react and wingers frequently found themselves defending a three or four on one overlap.

Matters got worse when Dundalk crossed for another converted try within a minute of the restart.  To their credit, however, Longford stuck with it and scored three unanswered tries in their one spell of domination throughout the game.  The first and second came from Shane Mallon after good forward play and quick recycling of ruck ball and the third by Ciaran Shannon who muscled his way over after sustained pressure by the pack on the Dundalk line.  By this stage, Dundalk were down to 14 players, one of their number having received a straight red, but Longford were unable to capitalise on their numerical advantage. Unfortunately, old habits returned and Dundalk regained the ascendancy with two converted tries when, once again, the damage was self inflicted with weak or non-existent tackling.

Those who did impress on the day were Shane Mallon with his hat trick of tries, Ciaran Shannon whose industry throughout the day was rewarded with a try of his own and Jamie Byrne who, at times, looked like he was running a solo defensive effort across the entire back line.

Squad: Gary Kenny, Mark McHugh, Jack McManus, Ciaran Shannon, Dylan Fay, Conor Cox, Ciaran McCormack, Ben Carthy, Ultan O’Sullivan, Daire McManus, Thomas McDermott, Shane Mallon, James Doyle, Jack Sullivan, Jamie Byrne, Kieran Reen, Maksymilian Napieralski, Oisin McDonnell.

U16 Leinster League

Portarlington       24       Longford   12

Despite the result, it was a great game of rugby, our players put in significant effort and we are seeing improvements in the overall team’s performance. With a few adjustments, we’ll be back winning games!

Portarlington dominated the first half of the game where our team could not match their skills and physicality. Thus, they scored three tries and one conversion within the first fifteen minutes of the game. We spent the rest of the first half defending and could not create an opportunity to score.

Half time: Portarlington 17 – Longford 0

It was a different second half, our players marched onto the pitch with a different attitude (possibly due to the motivational words given by the coaches or Craig) and within a minute, Gareth O’Hara scored Longford’s first try which was converted. Two minutes later and after spectacular play from our consistent reliable players, Kevin Greggs found a gap in the Portarlington defence line and scored a beautiful try. At this point the gap was narrower, Portarlington 17 – Longford 12. Longford found additional strength and continued to counter attack and were close to another try unfortunately Portarlington turned it over and scored their fourth try followed by a conversion and the soon the game ended.

Next, we are playing Boyne in Longford on Saturday 29th of October.

Longford: James Murphy, Gareth O’Hara, John Corcoran, Michael Dunne, Kevin Greggs, William Higgins, Simon Moorehead, Brian O’Farrell, Jack Finnegan, Dario Cigliano, Joshua Manning, Liam Donoghue, Cian Gray, Ciaran McGlynn, Jacob Ireland, Brandon Maguire, Daniel Reilly, Rory Lennon, Jonathan Borland, Brian Farrell, Finn Brady

 












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