North Kildare Preview and Senior Mens Season Wrap to date   25/02/2019

By Tommy Butler Longford PRO

Longford take on North Kildare on Sunday in their last Leinster League match of the 18-19 season.  Although they cannot win the league title, if they equal or better the result of third placed Monkstown they will finish as runners up and will go into a Promotion/Relegation Play off against the second from bottom team in 1A.  Winning promotion to the top Division of Leinster Rugby would be a phenomenal achievement for Longford’s young squad, with nearly all the players having come through Longford’s Youth system.  They also have a Provincial Towns Cup ¼ Final to look forward to on St. Patricks Day versus Kilkenny at home in CPL Park.  Longford set up their chance for promotion with a brilliant five match winning running run at the start of the league followed by a mid-season dip.  To their credit, Longford then finished off the season really strong, with a win away to Tullow and a win at home to League Champions, Suttonians.  

Despite, Longford’s great performance to date, it all rests on their final game this Sunday against a North Kildare side, who although already relegated, have been on the wrong side of a number of close scores over the season.  Longford will have to be focused and work hard for the result and will not be underestimating the North Kildare challenge.

With Longford having last weekend off, now is a great time to have a look back at how they put themselves in a position to earn promotion.

23/09/2018 Coolmine 17 Longford 31 

Longford’s started their Leinster League campaign with a convincing win in Castleknock versus Coolmine. Longford came into the match on the back of a great preseason, where they were never really tested, so it was tough to know where the team stood.  However, they got into their stride quickly and played an impressive brand of rugby where multiple phases allied with going out wide, putting the well marshalled home defence under substantial pressure throughout the match.  Longford tries were from Shane Rodgers, Neal Farrell & Paul Gallogly with the rest of the points from the boot of Ryan McHugh.

30/09/2018 Longford 28 Carlow 19

Longford’s continued their winning ways and followed on from the victory versus Coolmine in Round 1, with a bonus point win at home to a tough Carlow side who put it up to Longford for large periods of the game.  It was Longford’s ability to convert every chance that came their way that earned a bonus point victory with tries from Kieran O’Gorman, Dylan Quinn, Neal Farrell and Shane Rodgers.

14/10/2018 Monkstown 14 Longford 21

Longford continued their unbeaten start to the season with a hard fought win against a very good Monkstown side in Sydney Parade. Longford sported lots of bumps and bruises after this encounter but gave as good as they got and ultimately deserved their seven point win.  Longford went behind early but two tries from Kieran O’Gorman and Joe McGowan and three penalties saw them secure the win.

21/10/2018 DSLP 29 Longford 34

Longford continued their winning run when they earned a great bonus point win in a high scoring match versus De La Salle Palmerston (DLSP) in Kilternan. Both sides scored five tries but it was Longford who eventually ground out their third away of the season and also maintained their winning start to the league securing their fourth victory from four matches.  Longford try scorers were two by Benny McManus and one each for Joe McGowan, Kieran O’Gorman and debutant Ian McCormack.

04/11/2018 Longford 35 Tullow 23

Longford continued their superb start to their Leinster League 1B Campaign by yet again coming back from behind to score a great win and go top of 1B with five wins from five starts. This Longford team like doing things the hard way and 35 minutes into the first half it looked a long way back for a home side who were 07-20 down with only a minute to play in the first half. However, one thing this Longford side have is belief and even though everything seemed to be going against them, they worked their way back into the game and ultimately ran out deserved victors. A big turning point was Longford going in for a well worked try by Joe McGowan just before have time after a Tullow yellow card, to peg the score back to 14-20 at half time.  Neal Farrell and Shane Rodgers (two tries) also crossed the whitewash to secure the bonus point win.

11/11/2018 Leinster League 1B Suttonians 33 Longford 11

Longford’s winning streak came to shuddering halt in Sutton Co. Dublin.  Longford travelled expecting a tough game against a side that turned them over twice last season and that is exactly what they got. Unfortunately, Longford were off key on the day and that was not going to be good enough against a big well drilled Suttonians side.  Longford’s sole try on the day came from Sean McGuinness.

26/11/2018 Longford 37 North Kildare 19

Longford jumped back to the top of the Leinster League division 1B by ruthlessly dispatching a North Kildare side that bristled with promise in the early exchanges. Longford's win, coupled with the Tullow defeat of Suttonians, pushed them back to the top of the table.

Longford may have had a slow start when the Kilcock side came to CPL Park, but they more than made up for it as the game progressed. Longford found it difficult to deal with the early North Kildare onslaught as the visitors were in fine fettle, scoring two tries in the first 40.

Initially the men for The Maws looked very solid but the unwavering intensity of the Longford game took its toll as the game progressed.  Longford’s tries were from Kieran O’Gorman, Liam Brady, Sammy Murphy, Shane Rodgers and Ian McCormack.

02/12/2018 Longford 23 Coolmine 20

Narrow margins make all the difference and Longford's home win against Coolmine very much bears that out. On a difficult day Longford did enough to claim the points and stay top of the Leinster League Division 1B table.  The soft going was not the environment this Longford team thrive in, but two Derek Farrell tries in the opening and closing quarters were decisive. Ryan McHugh's consistency at the tee another vital cog in this machine.

09/12/2018 Carlow 31 Longford 12

It was the proverbial ‘nightmare before Christmas’ for Longford in Carlow as they fell to only their second defeat of the season in Oak Park yesterday. Even though Longford’s last visit there was receiving the Division 2A trophy, when they got promoted two seasons ago, it has not been a ground that Longford have managed to extract much reward from over the years and this trend continued.  This was bore out in a day Longford did not play well and Carlow took full advantage.  Longford’s sole try on the day was from Joe McGowan.

06/01/2019 Longford 17 Monkstown 27

It was a disappointing day at CPL Park today where Longford lost out to third placed Monkstown in a big fixture as regards deciding who would challenge Suttonians for league honours. Despite enjoying dominance especially in the forwards for large periods of the match, Longford lost out by 10 points. The really frustrating thing from a Longford point of view was that all of Monkstown tries came from Longford mistakes, with the Longford defence largely comfortable for the rest of the match.  In a day where Longford were completely on top in the scrums and line out, it was a disappointing loss with Dylan Quinn and Neal Farrell crossing for Longford.

13/01/2019 Longford Late XV 20 DLSP 14

Longford got back to winning ways in CPL Park with a hard fought victory against De La Salle Palmerstown (DLSP). After the first seven games of the season Longford were flying high at the top of the league but had hit a somewhat of sticky patch having lost out in three of the last four league games. However, Longford knew that a win would keep up the pressure on second placed Monkstown in the battle for second and a shot at promotion via a playoff.  In a match where a much improved DLSP came to CPL Park, Longford ground out a great win with tries from Dylan Quinn and Ian McCormack.

27/01/2019 Tullow 05 Longford Late XV 22

Longford came away from Black Gates Tullow with a great four try bonus point win to move back into second place in the league and in with a shot of a promotion/relegation play off to Division 1A. Tullow is one of the hardest places in Leinster Junior rugby to get a win and one in which Longford have found the going tough over the years, so coming away from there with a win was a great shot in the arm for Longford with two games left to play in the league.  The win put Longford right back in the hunt for promotion.  Tries from Joe McGowan, Conor Seery, Paul Gallogly and Hubie Connolly secured the bonus point win.

70219 Leinster League Division 1B Longford 11 Suttonians 07

What a day it was in CPL Park, where the top two teams in Leinster 1B went at it hammer and tongs. The men in black left nothing behind and managed to grind out a brilliant win against an opposition who secured the league title on the day by virtue of a losing bonus point. Unfortunately, the league title had slipped away from Longford after a bad run around Christmas, but Longford have battled back and now with one match to play can secure a promotion play off with a bonus point win in North Kildare on Sunday week.  Longford’s try was from Ian McCormack, with six points from Ryan McHugh’s boot.

We would appreciate as much travelling support as possible in our quest to secure a second place finish and a chance at promotion to Leinster Division 1A!

Longford Late XV v Suttonians

 

 











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