31/01/16 Leinster League Division 3 Clontarf 5 Canterbury Warriors 24

On Sunday last the Warriors travelled away to Dublin to face Clontarf.  The Warriors were sitting in third place coming into the match and were eager to make upwards progress towards the summit of the table with a bonus point win.

Longford played with the wind in the first half with full back Carol Manning taking advantage by putting boot to ball to gain field position.  A crooked line out throw from Clontarf saw the first of many scrums, which put the new second row pairing of Aisling Ormsby and Kirsty Smyth to the test.  They passed with flying colours with hooker Sharon Leonard stealing opposition put-in’s to put Longford on the front foot.

Clontarf did exert some serious pressure on the Warriors line at times, with the Warriors clearing on a few occasions under serious pressure.  However, they managed to repel much of this pressure with some great tackling by Amanda Lennon and Lisa Brady, ably supported by Kirsty, Aisling and Irene.  After soaking up the Clontarf pressure, a lovely kick from Carol Manning put the ball into touch just outside the Clontarf 22.  Longford were then awarded a penalty due to a Clontarf infringement in the resulting line out.  The penalty was taken quickly by the Warriors by Leanne Early who was held up just short of the line.  However, quick thinking from scrum half Nuala McGoey saw her burst over the line to leave Longford seven points to the better.  The Warriors really started to get on top and it was all one traffic until later in the second half when a tiring Longford team let Clontarf in for the sole try, to leave the score 19-5.  However, Longford were not finished and were determined to come away with a bonus point win.  A flowing move interchanging between back and forwards and seeing the ball pass through every member of the Warrior’s team saw Lisa Brady cross the white wash with the able support of her teammates to score the crucial fourth try which confered a bonus point.  The scoring was completed by the conversion to leave the final score 24-5 in Longford’s favour.

The Warriors certainly took a while to get into their stride but can be very proud of their performance considering they had players playing out of position and were only playing with ‘14’ for most of the second half.  However, the Clontarf was a much improved side compared to the meeting between the two sides in Longford earlier in the season.

The Warriors next game is at home to Balbriggan in CPL Park on Sunday February 14^th, KO 13:00.  Balbriggan are just behind the Warriors in the league and all support would be greatly appreciated.