Provincial Towns Cup Preview, Youths/Minis Match reports...

By Padraig Murphy Longford RFC PRO Ph: 087 6063587 Email:  lrfconnects@gmail.com

2023 Bank of Ireland Provincial Towns Cup First Round

The 2023 Provincial Towns Cup kicks off on Sunday next, 12th February. Longford are preparing for their first round tie this weekend, drawn home advantage against Tullamore. The draw for this year’s competition was made ahead of the Leinster v Racing 92 European fixture in the Aviva recently. The final will take place on Sunday 26th April, with the venue still to be confirmed.

Twenty-five teams will take part in this year’s Towns Cup competition, with seven teams awarded byes to the second round. These seven teams are Gorey RFC, Kilkenny RFC , Boyne RFC , Ashbourne RFC, Wicklow RFC, Naas RFC & Enniscorthy RFC. ‌

While this season’s league has been a tough campaign for Longford, the team will go into the Towns Cup fixture in somewhat buoyant mood, following recent performances where they overcame both Mullingar and Cill Dara in addition to a couple of well-earned bonus point loses against league leaders Wicklow and chasers, Carlow.

Longford know that they will need to produce an all-round game to see off Tullamore. The Towns Cup is always a very exciting event and one that Longford have faired well in recently, reaching a final and semi-final in the last decade.

Longford’s Director of Rugby, Colm Glynn comments, ‘we are really looking forward to upcoming towns cup fixture next Sunday at home v Tullamore 2nds.  Since start of December we’ve started to find a bit of form as a group and have won 3 of our last 5 league games while our 2 losses have come away from home and have garnered 2 losing bonus points. We played Tullamore earlier in the season in midland league and only win with last kick of the game so we know how tough a challenge they will be. However, with home advantage and hopefully some of our injured players back available for selection we are confident of being able to get a result and progress to the next round. The towns cup is a really special competition and something we will be giving our full attention to this year’

Please come in and support in Longford at CPL Park on Sunday at 3.00pm. Your support would be very appreciated.

Club President Donagh McDonnell with Balbriggans David McFadden at the Provincial Towns Cup draw 

Leinster League Division 1B 

Results

25/09/22 Cill Dara 18-12 Longford

02/10/22 Longford 14-20 Wicklow

16/10/22 Mullingar 27-25 Longford

23/10/22 Longford 09-22 Carlow

06/11/22 Tullow 28-10  Longford

13/11/22 Athy 28-12 Longford

27/11/22 Longford 18-14 Dundalk

04/12/22 Longford 10-07 Cill Dara

15/01/23 Wicklow 14-13 Longford

22/01/23 Longford 29-20 Mullingar

29/01/23 Carlow 19-12 Longford

Upcoming Fixtures

19/02/23 Longford v Tullow

15/03/23 Longford v Athy

26/03/23 Dundalk v Longford

Men’s Senior training continues Tuesday and Friday evenings at 7.30pm.

Ladies’ 2022/23 Season. 

Longford Ladies season continues to dip after another defeat, this time at home to Clontarf.  Despite slipping into the bottom half of the table hopefully they have enough points in the bag to ensure survival in Division 3.

Results

09/10/22 Longford 22-05 Arklow

16/10/22 Longford 40-00 Greystones

23/10/22 New Ross 37-07 Longford

6/11/22 Longford 15-19 Wicklow J1

13/11/22 Clontarf 10-00 Longford

20/11/22 Longford 55-07 Gorey

4/12/22 Athy 31-27 Longford

11/12/22 Arklow v Longford Postponed

8/01/23 Greystones 14-23 Longford

15/01/23 Longford 12-17 New Ross

29/01/23 Wicklow 34-05 Longford

5/02/23 Longford 05-22  Clontarf

Ladies upcoming fixtures

12/02/23 Gorey v Longford

Membership

New members should register with the IRFU on the following link.

https://rugbyconnect.irfu.ie/

When prompted, select Leinster as the Provence, and then select Longford Rugby Club as your club. Once complete, note the player number.  You are then directed to https://sportsmanager.ie/sportlomo/users/login to complete the process.

Payment is online and must be made as part of the process.  Players are only approved and available for match selection when full payment and forms are completed. 

Youth Rugby, sponsored by MLC, Midlands Language Centre. 

Weekend Results 

U16G Longford 43-00 Portlaoise

U16 Longford 25-14 Portarlington Divison 2

U14 Longford 24-19 Rathdrum Divison 2

Upcoming fixtures

U15 Longford v Enniscorthy Division 2

U14 West Offaly Lions v Longford ML

U13 Longford v Birr ML

Youth Match reports 

U16 Girls Longford 43-00 Portlaoise 

Strength, speed and support were what Longford U16 Girls were about today when they welcomed Portlaoise to Longford Rugby Club

The girls put on a super display of teamwork resulting in 7 unanswered tries by the home team.

Mia Rowan displayed her Speed running in no less than 4 tries. Ava Horkan showed some super Strength crashing through the defence to score in the corner.

Isabella Larkin sliced straight through the middle with a powerful try scored from within her own half, which she also converted.

The try of the day came from Maria Ricon on the back of what can only be described as text book back line running and offload from Andrea Nolan.

Special mention to Shauna Hannon who had some excellent carries. Ava O Loughlin debuting in the Line out and Niamh Brady who was a menace at No.9

Final Score: Longford 43-00 Portlaoise

Longford Team: Ava Horkan, Olivia Hadzislawus, Shauna Hannon, Ava O Loughlin 

Anna O Connor, Migle Frolovaite, Niamh Brady, Isabella Larkin, Mia Rowan, Andrea Nolan, Amber McGrath,

The girl’s welcome new players on Wednesday evenings at 7pm...come and give it a go.

U16 Boys Longford 25-14 Portarlington 

Longford U16 team after the win over Portarlington.  Back Row L-R Ryan Spollen, Danny Kelly, Jonathan Groenewald, Dan Donohue, Tadgh McCauley, Senan Murphy, Joseph Davidson, Daniel Corr, Derek Belton, James Cosgrove, Harry Byrne, Jamie Donohue, Shane McGuigan.  Front roe L-R; Conor O'Grady, Mel Mulligan, Darragh Walsh, Tom Murray, Niall Connaughton, Donnacha Golden, Jack Brogan. 

Longford welcomed Portarlington to CPL Park in the Leinster League on Saturday last. Having shown glimpses of excellent play in recent losses a strong performance and victory were both badly needed, and the home team didn't disappoint. Longford played flawless rugby at high tempo in the opening 10 minutes and were rewarded by a fine try by No. 8 Shane McGuigan following sustained pressure.  Senan Murphy added the conversion.  

On resumption, Longford again took the game to their opponents with good continuity play leading to an excellent team try ably finished by winger Jack Brogan. The conversion was again added by Murphy who then added a brace of penalty kicks, and Longford had good control of the game at this point.  The Portarlington side have experienced a good run of form of late and continued to probe in attack but were well repelled by the ever-present Daniel Corr, Ryan Spollen and Danny Kelly in the Longford pack.  A strong period of Longford dominance was rewarded following a perfectly executed play, directly off the training field, which saw Jonathan Groenwald split the Portarlington defence making a deep attack onto the Portarlington half.  A quick ruck fed ball out to full-back  Darragh Walsh, who beat two opponents to score beneath the posts. Longford reached the break 25 -0 ahead but, having to play into a strong breeze in the second half, knew this game was far from over. Portarlington were a big and strong team and, with the wind advantage, brought a much-improved performance in the second half. Two converted tries followed for them, and Longford were forced to defend for prolonged periods.

Mel Mulligan played a very effective game at scrum half while Jamie Donohue and Tom Murray held firm in the midfield.  Conor O Grady continuously harried the opposition lineout throughout the game and secured alot of ball for his team. Longford deserved their win and showed some great phases of team play throughout. The remaining games of the Leinster League are eagerly awaited if Longford can replicate this performance.

Longford: 1 Ryan Spollen, 2 James Cosgrove, 3 Joseph Davidson, 4 Conor O’Grady, 5 Danny Kelly, 6 Daniel Corr,7 Derek Belton, 8 Shane MgGuigan, 9 Mel Mulligan, 10 Senan Murphy, 11 Jonathan Groenewald, 12 Tom Murray, 13 Jamie Donohue, 14 Jack Brogan, 15 Darragh Walsh, 16 Tadgh McCauley, 17 Donnacha Golden, 18. Harry Byrne, 19 Niall Connaghton 

Next match is a Leinster league home game versus Clondalkin in 2 weeks. 

U14 Boys Longford 24-14 Rathdrum

A great team performance from Longford RFC U-14s yielded a good win against Rathdrum, despite inclement weather, the team won a hard-fought match against a well organised organised Rathdrum defence. Great breaks from several players yielded good yards throughout the match allowing Longford RFC deserved win game. A team performance showing signs of unity and improving in all aspects of the game.

Try Scorers: Jay, Brayden Francis, Sam Elliott and Brody. 2 conversions - Adam Cranogue.

Link to Leinster league and Midlands’s area competition fixtures and results can be found on the following link.

https://www.leinsterrugby.ie/domestic-rugby/domestic-fixtures-results/

Leinster Rugby Development pathway 

The U16 Shane Horgan Cup competition resumes next week during mid-term with Midlands’s area in a game against Southeast. Longford have 5 player’s training with the squad. Darragh Walsh, Derek Belton, Jonathan Groenewald, Senan Murphy and Shane McGuigan are all training well in Edenderry each Monday evening and hopeful of selection for the upcoming game.

Next season’s squad trials saw five U15 teams from the Midlands area at the first trials recently and a total of 14 boys were selected from Longford Rugby Club to attend the second screening session at Edenderry on Monday next.

At U18 age grade, 3 Longford players, Ciaran Heffernan, James Grehan and Yaw Appiah are also participating in trials. This group are attending Leinster Clubs U18 selection sessions in Maynooth, with the next session on Wednesday 15th.

Best of luck to all involved.

Youth’s Training 

Age group, coach contact details and training schedule as follows:

Girls Teams

U14 girls - Mags McKenna  087 6309653

Wednesday 7:00-8:15pm

U16 girls – Morag Rowan 087 4135962

Wednesday 7:00-8:15pm

U18 girls – Declan Smyth 085 1375973

Wednesday & and Fridays 7.30pm

Boy’s teams

U13 – Lisa Brady 087 6119960

Monday 7.00-8.45pm

Saturday 10.30-11.30am

U14 – Declan Elliott 086 8125363

Wednesday 7.00-8.15pm

U15 – Aoghan Clarke 087 6727002

Monday and Wednesdays 7.00-8.30pm

U16 – Padraig Murphy 087 6063587

Thursdays 6.30-8.30pm

U17 – Freddie Forde 086 1727145

Tuesdays and Thursdays 7.00-8.30pm

U18.5’s – Jimmy Murphy 086 2555621

Thursday 7.30-9.00pm

New players welcome at all age groups.  Just turn up with a gumshield.

Please follow club social media for updates on our Instagram & Facebook profiles - Longford RFC

Mini Rugby 

Longford's Eimhin Kelly eyes up the try line at the minis blitz.

Longford U12’s played host to Mullingar and Tullamore in this weekends midlands blitz.  Some cracking rugby was on display this weekend. 

With the start of the 6 Nations to the forefront of everyone’s minds and the presence of assistant head coach, Pauline Marlowe, on the sideline for the first time in a while, the competitive spirit in the boys was evident.

Our U9’s & U10’s were on the road again this weekend at a midlands blitz in Tullamore.   The spirits were equally high, and we even had a rendition of Irelands Call!

From the looks of the jerseys, a fantastic morning’s rugby was had by all, but God help the laundrette!!!

The U6 - U11 teams have been invited to Dubarry Park in Athlone next Sunday to play Buccaneers RFC

For further information on all mini’s rugby, please contact your coach or our Mini’s Co-ordinator, Pauline Marlowe on Mob - 087 632 3373.

For all teams not involved in blitz games, Longford Mini Rugby continues on Sunday mornings, 10.30am at the club.

Players should wear football boots, appropriate clothing, and a gum shield. Blade type boots are not permitted.

At Longford Rugby Club, we cater for all age grades from U6 up to U12 for both boys and girls with a girls’ team at U12. This group is for girls born 2010 & 2011.

Please note the following if your child was born in/Age Grade/Team contact:

2011 - Age Grade U12's - Pauline Marlowe 087 6323373

2012 - Age Grade U11's – Mark Quinn 085 8642266

2013 - Age Grade U10's – Colm Glynn 087 1520428

2014 - Age Grade U9's – John Healy 0879884240

2015 - Age Grade U8's - TBC

2016 - Age Grade U7's - TBC

2017 - Age Grade U6's* - TBC

2011 & 2012 Age Grade U12 Girls – Gerry Carthy 086 8046857

New players can be registered via this link

https://rugbyconnect.irfu.ie/

For further information please contact Pauline Marlowe, Mini Co-ordinator, Longford RFC. Mob - 087 632 3373

New coaches are needed at the younger age groups. If you are interested in helping, please contact Pauline Marlowe or Gerry Carthy. 

Please follow club social media for updates on our Instagram & Facebook profiles- Longford RFC

International Comment

The provincial sides come together as Ireland kicked off the Six Nations in Cardiff.  Ireland lived up to their rankings as one of the tournament favourites in a demolition job in the first half to win 34-10.  However, there is lots to work on in terms of improvement as the second half saw the hosts create plenty opportunities only to lack the clinical finishing required to add to the scoreboard.  France roll into town next Saturday for the eagerly awaited clash of the pre tournaments joint favourites who are also number 1 and 2 in world rankings.

Boot room

Parents - Why not check out the hugely popular Boot room here at Longford rugby club where we have a self replenishing stock of replacement boots.  You drop in a pair you no longer need and replace it with a pair that fits your child. That way your pair of boots doesn’t go to waste and someone else gets to benefit also, thus also helping someone else save a few Euros. 

If you have any boots that you wish to donate or exchange, please bring them into minis training and drop off the office for the attention of Gerry Carty or Pauline Marlowe who will assist with selecting the replacement pair.  Boots should be clean, laces intact and no missing studs.  No blades will be taken in. 

Please note it is not possible to guarantee there will be a suitable replacement available however we have rarely not had some to choose across a wide range of sizes.

For all Longford RFC club correspondence please contact: 

Ph: 087 6063587

Email:  lrfconnects@gmail.com