Longford RFC Club News 24/02/2020   24/02/2020

By Tommy Butler Longford RFC PRO

Senior Men

It was groundhog day in Longford RFC where the Senior Men’s matches v Monkstown were called off for the second time, this time due to a water logged pitch.  It is very frustrating for all involved as all the players trained very well in the lead up to the match.  In other news, Longford’s main rivals for the second place in Division 1B, Tullow, enjoyed a big win at home to Clondalkin drawing them level with Longford.  However, due to Tullow having a better head to head record this season, they now move ahead of Longford into second place.  Tullow have one match to play and Longford now still have two.  So, Longford need six points from their last two games to finish second assuming Tullow get a bonus point win against bottom placed side DLSP in their final league match.  A fixture rejig will take place today and will be published on the website but for this week Longford’s focus changes to the First Round of the Provincial Towns Cups 2020 where Longford travel to Senior side Navan to face their 2nd XV.

Provincial Towns Cup 1st Round Preview Navan v Longford

There is a great buzz around Longford RFC in anticipation of the first round of the 2020 Provincial Towns Cup where Longford Senior Men travel to Navan next Sunday March 1st at 3 PM.  It is a competition that Longford have had a lot of success in over the last decade; they have featured in one Provincial Towns Cup Final, a semi-final last season and three Plate Finals.  In 2013 Longford RFC reached the Provincial Towns Cup Final for the first time since the club was reformed in 1967; a historic year when Pat Fitzgerald, representing Longford RFC also became the President of the IRFU. He was the first Junior Club representative ever to hold this office!  Maybe 2020 is the year that Longford can go one step further and etch their name on the famous trophy?

The Provincial Towns Cup is one of the oldest trophies in existence in Irish rugby dating back to 1892. The Cup originally named the Leinster Junior Challenge Cup was then presented on the inception of the Provincial Towns Cup in 1926. Longford RFC contested the 88th final v Tullamore and also reached the final in 1932, losing out to Dundalk.

The competition is an open draw format and as such throws up many David v Goliath encounters. Former President of the Leinster Branch Ben Gormley summed it up well: “The Town's Cup is the Holy Grail of Junior rugby in the province and it is a competition that grips towns like no other. Its popularity continues to grow year on year.”

Longford Captain Benny McManus with the Provincial Towns Cup

PTC Preview from Longford RFC Head Coach Glenn Baskett

It has been a really disruptive week again with the weather going against us again. We can’t control the weather but all we wanted to do was get the games played in the league, see where we were in the shake up there and move on to the cup comp. But now we haven’t been able to do that. So, we just have to park that now and move on to Navan. We are away and that brings it’s own challenge but this is the first step on this comp so it’s a new opportunity for the group. We will sit and look at our own game and get that right and make sure we get pour prep right and let Navan worry about us.”

Bank of Ireland Provincial Towns Cup First Round

Edenderry RFC v North Kildare RFC
Roscrea RFC v Balbriggan RFC
Mullingar RFC v Boyne RFC
Cill Dara RFC v Wicklow RFC
Arklow RFC v Skerries RFC
Athy RFC v New Ross RFC
Naas RFC v Tullamore RFC
Enniscorthy RFC v Portlaoise RFC
Navan RFC v Longford RFC
Tullow RFC v Newbridge RFC
Wexford Wanderers RFC v Midland Warriors RFC
Co Carlow FC v Clondalkin RFC

Byes: Ashbourne RFC, Dundalk RFC, Kilkenny RFC and Gorey RFC.

Longford Seniors Men’s Fixtures

010320 Provincial Towns Cup 1st Round Navan v Longford KO 3 J1

TBC Leinster League Longford v Monkstown KO 1/3 J1&J2

080320 Leinster League Clondalkin v Longford KO 1/3 J1&J2

220320 Provincial 2nds Cup 2nd Round Cill Dara v Longford KO 3 J2

League Table Leinster League - Division 1B


Pos

Team

Pld

W

D

L

PF

PA

Diff

BP

BP 4T

BP L

Ded

Pts

1

Monkstown

12

12

0

0

391

173

218

7

7

0

0

55

2

Tullow

13

8

1

4

362

235

127

9

5

4

0

43

3

Longford

12

8

1

3

282

188

94

9

6

3

0

43

4

Co Carlow

13

7

0

6

236

245

-9

7

4

3

0

35

5

Boyne

13

6

0

7

292

296

-4

7

4

3

0

31

6

Clondalkin

13

5

0

8

257

346

-89

7

4

3

0

27

7

Cill Dara

13

3

0

10

218

306

-88

6

2

4

0

18

8

De La Salle Palmerston

13

1

0

12

177

426

-249

2

1

1

0

6


League Table Seconds League (J2) - Division 1B


Pos

Team

Pld

W

D

L

PF

PA

Diff

BP

BP L

Ded

Pts

1

Longford

10

10

0

0

134

61

73

0

0

0

40

2

Monkstown

10

7

0

3

145

75

70

1

1

0

29

3

Co Carlow

11

7

0

4

152

161

-9

1

1

0

29

4

Tullow

11

5

0

6

145

189

-44

3

3

0

23

5

Clondalkin

11

4

0

7

90

119

-29

4

4

-2

18

6

Cill Dara

10

4

0

6

83

128

-45

2

2

-2

16

7

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

8

Boyne

11

0

0

11

15

31

-16

0

0

-8

-8

 

Longford Women (Warriors)

Longford make the long trip to Wexford to take on New Ross in a very important match this coming Sunday.  New Ross sit two points ahead of Longford in the table with two games left in the league.  A win for Longford would put them in a great position to win the league with Blackrock coming to CPL Park on the last day.  Longford lost to New Ross earlier in the season but they were missing a lot of players that day, so they are really looking forward for the chance of putting in a good performance. Longford Women welcome new players throughout the season with all fitness levels, shapes and sizes are welcome.  The Warriors really are on an upward curve and are making an assault on the Division 4 Title and want you to be a part.  Training is on Tuesdays and Fridays and 7.30.  Drop in to training for a chat or alternatively give Head Coach Nuala McGoey a ring on 0862482005.

Upcoming Fixtures

010320 Leinster League New Ross v Longford KO 1

150320 Leinster League Longford v Blackrock KO 1

League Table Womens Division 4A


Pos 

Team 

Pld 

PF 

PA 

Diff 

BP 

BP L 

BP M 

Ded 

Pts 

1

New Ross

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

8

2

Longford

2

1

1

0

10

10

0

0

0

0

0

6

3

Blackrock College RFC J1

2

1

0

1

22

7

15

0

0

0

-2

2

4

Wanderers

2

0

1

1

17

32

-15

0

0

0

0

2

5

Suttonians J1

2

0

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

-4

-4

Longford Mini/Youths

The Longford Mini/Youth Season is now in full swing.  All teams are now back training and playing.  

Training.

Due to the recent very bad weather it is likely that some training will not go ahead to try and save the pitches for matches at the weekend, please check with your coaches.

Remember new players are still welcome at all levels with no prior experience required.  It could be you lining out for Ireland in a coming World Cup!

Minis U6-U12 

Training on Sundays at 10.30 am in CPL Park for both girls and boys.  A full season planner can be downloaded at https://bit.ly/2NxGL1j 

U13 Male

U13s training every Thursday at 6.30 PM.

U14 Male

U14s training every Thursday 7-8.30 PM.

U15 Male

U15s train every Wednesday at 7.30 PM.

U16 Male

U16s train every Wednesday at 7.30 PM.

U17s&18s Male

U17/U18s train every Thursday at 7.30 PM.

U14 Female

U14s train every Sunday morning with an extra day per week TBC.

U16&U18 Female

U16s&U18s train every Tuesday and Friday at 7.30 PM.

Fixtures

Most teams have fixtures down for the coming weekend but due to very bad weather over the last two weekends your coaches will let you know match details as they are confirmed.

U18M v Mullingar (Home)

U18FM v ARGO (Away)

U16FM v Kilkenny (Away)

U15M v Mullingar (Home)

U14FM v North Meath (Away)

Please check our website for fixtures; http://www.longfordrugby.com/clubFixtures/14013/f_i_x_t_u_r_e_s

Match Reports

It was another tough weekend as regards the weather but a few matches did go ahead.  Longford U16s travelled to Wicklow to face Arklow and came out the wrong side of a 10-7 scoreline.  Longford U14s travelled to Naas and although they played well went down 39 26.  The U13s also travelled to Naas and came off second best.

U12 Girls

A somewhat depleted but nine strong U12 Longford Girls team travelled to Mullingar for a blitz on a very wind Saturday.  First up they played an amalgamation of Navan/Tullamore.  It was a good well matched game of rugby where Longford came out on top 7 tries to 3.  The second was against a physically strong Port Dara team.  After a great game of rugby Port Dara eked out the win by just one try.  Finally, Longford played the home side Mullingar who had a panel of 21 players to Longford’s 9!  Longford dug deep and came away with a well earned draw.

Overall, Longford put in a super show of strong running rugby.  They also showed a huge improvement in handling, tackling and the overall rugby they played. The future is certainly bright for these young players.

Sam Burgess and Kevin McDonagh in action for Leinster U18s

Representative Honours

The mid term break saw lots of regional representative sides playing games with lots of Longford players featuring:

Kevin McDonagh and Sam Burgress (Leinster U18 Clubs).

Aine Cox (Midlands U18).

Dean Rogan, Shane O’Hara and Eoin Powell Murtagh (Midlands U16).

Congratulations to all the players, everyone in the club is very proud of you!

Leinster v Saracens

Longford Minis/Youths are organising another trip to watch the boys in blue this time in the blockbuster Champions Cup Quarters Final v Saracens at the Aviva stadium on Saturday April 4th at 17.45.  Over 300 have already booked with the trip now full. However, a few places may be available due to cancellations if you are interested contact Padraig Murphy asap.

Great Food/Events at Longford RFC

The Sin Bin at Longford RFC serves great quality and value food on Friday from 12-3 and 12-7 on Saturday and Sunday.  Booking for events such as birthdays, christening, confirmations, communions, weddings and funerals are also available.  For bookings and information phone Kris on 0872872357.

4G All Weather Pitch Rental

Our state of the art floodlight Mel Diffley 4G pitch is available for rental.  It contains shock absorption so that players can play contact sports/fall over without hurting themselves.  It is also perfect for 5 a side soccer.  If you would like to book it phone Damian on 0862757103.

Dean Rogan, Shane O’Hara and Eoin Powell Murtagh after playing for the Midlands U16


 











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