Joy for Senior Ladies in Midland Plate Final, Senior Men lose out to Tullow, Youths/Minis reports...

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

19/02/2023 Leinster League 1B Longford 08 Tullow 24

Longford returned to League action on Sunday firmly rooted to the bottom of Division 1B.  Nothing but a win was required to narrow the gap to the second from bottom team.  With a good start from Tullow, Longford were under pressure early for the first few minutes until we were eventually relieved with knock on to end the Tullow phases on 4 minutes. The ensuing scrum was then reversed for a crooked put in from Longford, something both sides were to learn was a bug bear for the referee throughout the game.  Further pressure from Tullow saw them camped on the Longford line to end with a try on 10 minutes.  As the conversion missed the score was 00-05 to the visitors.

Longford then made some good headway from restart.  We had good link play between back and forwards with big carries from Bryce, Gorman, and Brady.  The pressure was rewarded with penalty on 15 minutes, with a successful kick from the reliable boot of Ryan McHugh. 03-05

From there it was an end-to-end exchange of possession for next 10 mins as both sides probed into each other’s half.  Tullow were awarded penalty bringing play to 5m line.  Longford challenged strongly and with some excellent defending managed to get a clearance kick to bring play out to the 10m line.  Tullow attempted to go forward from the  line out, but in doing so, committed a penalty infringement to allow Longford another kick for touch.  Longford infringed at the next lineout as the ref deemed us to be crossing, giving Tullow a penalty kick to touch just inside 22.

Longford made 2 changes at this point as Eoin O’Reilly came in for Lam Brady and Cormac Casey came in for David Connelly.

Longford managed to turn over possession and with good go forward ball for Gorman and Gilheany we earned a line-out just inside tullow 22.  In a well-executed maul towards the near touchline, Tullow defended well conceded another penalty, earning the No7 a yellow card.  Off the next line out Longford again carry hard.  Bryce shipped the ball out to Gorman who put Diarmuid Masterson into space to cross for a fine try.  Ryan was unsuccessful with the conversion and thus the last play of half saw Longford go into the break leading 08-05.

With all to play for, Longford start the brighter in the second half. Tullow take advantage of a knock on to clear their lines out of the 22.  Masterson then does well to chase kick and secure possession for again Longford.  However, Tullow work hard to win the ball back and again its Longford’s turn to defend.  A Tullow miscommunication give Longford a line-out in their own 22 only for our own cross messages gives Tullow possession and in for try on 52 mins to take the lead once again.  Longford 08-12 Tullow.

On 55 minutes, Longford kick to touch to bring play just inside 22.  With another well-formed driving maul from the line-out, Tullow collapsed for a Longford penalty and ensuing line out on 5m line.  Longford pressured the Tullow line.  Despite all the great work, with equally good defending Longford were pinged for holding on too long, allowing Tullow clear to just outside their 22.  Tullow managed to gain possession and exploit the near side to run play deep into Longford territory and on 65 minutes, Tullow cross again to go 08-19 up.

An excellent Ryan McHugh catch and carry from deep drove Longford back into Tullow territory.  We managed to get back to pressure the opposition line with several strong carries, however, wit the aid of plenty of offside players, Tullow somehow managed to turn possession and once again rally down the pitch.

Tullow crossed for a try once again and on the failed conversion kick, brought a close to the game, finishing 08-24 to Tullow.

For many, the result didn’t reflect the outstanding effort from the Longford boys.  With so many bodies on the extended injury list, particularly forwards, it was probably a tall order to get the required result on the day, however, those that took to the pitch left it all out there.

Longford again have a break in league action until March 15^th when highly ranked Athy visit before a trip away to Dundalk.  Both Dundalk and Cill Dara claimed vital wins this weekend to push themselves closer to safety on the league table.  We need full points in the final two fixtures and results elsewhere to go in our favour.  Never say Never!

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

19/02/23 Longford 08-24 Tullow

Upcoming Fixtures

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 claimed the Midland Plate in a powerful performance away to Tullamore on Saturday night.

Tullamore 00-47 Longford 

Longford headed to Tullamore last Saturday night to play in the Midland League Plate Final against the home team.  Longford received the kick off and put in a few good phases with forwards and backs getting involved.  The first 10 mins had both teams fighting hard for possession, but it was Longford who struck first with a great break from out half Megan Banahan to score with Tegan Evans adding the conversion.  From the kick off Longford controlled possession with the backline making some great breaks before captain Maria Kellaher used her power and pace to go over in the corner for a try with Tegan Evans putting in an incredible kick to add the 2 points.  Tara Gilna and Amanda Sheridan were working well in the line outs securing clean ball to attack from.  Longford were using their kicking game to good effect and forcing Tullamore into knock ons, from the scrum Megan passed to Leona who off loaded to Tegan who popped the ball to the on-rushing Michelle Mulvey who out paced everyone to score with Tegan converting. Tullamore came back at Longford and forced their way into the Longford 22, but the defence held firm with everyone working hard. Some great work at ruck time saw Longford steal possession on numerous occasions. Jessica Stewart, Rebeka Stavuse Jasmine Smyth Roisin Shaw Dora Ledwith were putting in some serious tackles and great breaks around the rucks. From one of these steals the ball came out to fullback Rachel O Farrell who kick chased only to be obstructed but Tegan managed to get to the ball first and run in for a try which she converted. With that the referee blew for half time with Longford leading 28- 00.

Longford introduced subs Mary Sheridan and Amy Molloy in the front row for the start of the second half. Longford started the second half well forcing Tullamore into errors, from a knock on, Michelle Mulvey gathered a messy ball to run half the pitch to score under the posts with the conversion added. Longford were putting some lovely phases together with forwards and backs interlinking, Amy Molloy making several powerful breaks, Longford introduced Amanda Ryan, Aoife Coleman and Caoimhe Baskett. Tullamore were on the attack, but Rebeka Stavuse was up quick in defence and intercepted the ball she popped it to Emma Dardis who whipped it to Maria who powered forward before passing to Samantha McHale who off loaded to Megan and with a great hand off went over for a try. Tullamore had their purple patch but just couldn't break the Longford defence.  The last try of the match was scored by Tegan Evens who put in a grubber kick that got half blocked, but a clever kick ahead saw Tegan touch the ball down over the line. The final score was 47 to 0.

Longford; Jessica Stewart, Tara Gilna, Roisin Shaw,Jasmine Smyth, Rebeka Stavuse, Amanda Sheridan, Maria Kellaher, Dora Ledwith, Emma Dardis, Megan Banahan, Leona Hoare,Tegan Evans, Samantha McHale ,Michelle Mulvey, Rachel O Farrell, Mary Sheridan, Amy Molloy, Aoife Coleman, Amanda Ryan, Caoimhe Baskett.

Next up, Longford welcome Athy on Sunday next, for the last home league game of the season, this is an important game as Athy are only 1 point behind Longford in the table.

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

12/02/23 Gorey 05-54 Longford

Upcoming fixtures 

Longford v Athy

Arklow 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 

U17 Edenderry 36-17 Longford, Leinster Cup

U15 Kilkenny 33-17 Longford, Leinster Cup

U14 Longford 17-34 Tullamore, Leinster League

Both U17, U16, and U15 ended their campaign in the Leinster leagues and look forward to the first-round draw of the plate competitions.

The U17 and U16 teams are into the semi-final of their respective Leinster leagues with those games played at home on Saturday next.  We would love to see plenty of support for them as they play for places in the final.  Best wishes to both sides.

Upcoming fixtures

U18G Wolves v Longford Div 4

U17 Longford v Midlands Warriors Div. 1 Semi-final

U16 Longford v Clondalkin Div. 2 Semi-final

U15 Longford v Enniscorthy Div 2

U14 Gorey v Longford LL

U13 Longford v Birr ML

Representative Youths Update

A number of players were in action this week with Midland’s development games. 

U18 Girls

Dervla Walsh and Keelin Byrne played for Midlands Dev team in the U18’s Sarah Robinson Cup on Monday. 

U17 Boys

On Wednesday, Yaw Appiah, Ciaran Heffernan, and James Cosgrove took part in the Leinster U18 clubs side trials second screening session at Skerries Rugby Club. 

U16 Boys

Later that day our U16 players, Shane McGuigan, Derek Belton, Senan Murphy, and Jonathan Groenewald all played for the Midland’s side in the Shane Horgan cup.  All players excelled in their games and trials and are a fantastic bunch to represent the club, their teams, coaches, school’s families, and friends at representative level.

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/

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 – Eugene Larkin 086 6015325

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 

This weekend’s U6 to U8 Midlands Blitz was held in Longford, catering for teams from Mullingar and Tullamore. We had 80+ children from U6-U8 age groups taking part in games on Saturday morning.

U12 update

Our U12 team travelled to Buccaneers for a challenge game, and they displayed their finest rugby of the season so far. They competed for every ball and some very fine passing and handling produced some fine scores and eventually winning out on the day.  We would like to thank our hosts for a very enjoyable morning and an even finer display of rugby. We'll done to all.

U11 Away Blitz - Mullingar Rugby Club.

Our U11’s travelled to Mullingar playing teams from Tullamore, Mullingar, and Edenderry.

The Longford U11s played two great games on Saturday morning in Mullingar against Tullamore and Mullingar.  All 16 Longford players got plenty of game time across the two games with some excellent individual performances on display again.  The team finished really strongly against a good Mullingar team, where the second half from Longford produced a fantastic team performance, scoring 3 excellent tries.  Well done team!

Delicious sandwiches and refreshments post-match were very welcome and enjoyed by the team - a big thank you to Mullingar RFC for their hospitality and a great blitz.

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

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