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

Leinster Provincial Towns Plate 

Longford’s season ended on Easter Sunday when beaten by Athy in the Provincial Towns plate.

Conditions were tricky with a stiff breeze blowing in to the Demesne end, but the promised rain held off.

Athy got off to a quick start with a penalty and try putting them ten nil up. Longford had lots of good field position but only earned three points from sustained periods of play in the Athy half. A piece of good fortune saw Athy score their next try when a mistimed pass ricocheted off the receiving players head into open country. This was a big blow, but the game looked dead before half time when weak tackling allowed Athy in off a goal line drop out.

The message at half time was to come out swinging and a 24-3 score became 24-20 with Robbie Shaw darting over from a quick penalty near the try line and Benny McManus dotting down. Ryan McHugh added the extras while tacking on a penalty in what was a faultless kicking display in tricky conditions.

Longford had the momentum and looked sure to score again with a maul trucking towards the line but were adjudged to have pulled down their own maul. Athy were delighted to get a scrum and Longford were penalised at the following breakdown losing a man to the bin. Momentum swung again and Athy moved up the field to score and put the game beyond doubt adding a further try running out deserving winners on a score line of 37-20.

It is always disappointing to lose but there is more to building a culture than results and it was especially pleasing to see four young lads make their 1sts debut with Cormac McDonagh starting at centre in what was an impressive debut. He was joined off the bench by Pete Kiernan and Eoin Murtagh in the backrow with Padraig Boyle coming on at fullback.

It will be interesting to watch the progression that all these talented lads make next season.

Longford; Padraig O Farrell  Brian Hanley Séamus McKeon Brendan McManus  David Geelan John Geelan Mark McHugh Thomas Gilheaney Robert Shaw Ryan Mc Hugh Dairmuid Masterson Cormac McDonagh Gorge McDermott Cormac Casey Brian Harte Eoin Murtagh Justin Murra. Peter Kiernan Joe McGowan Padraig Boyle. Jack Finnigan. 

Youth Rugby, sponsored by MLC, Midlands Language Centre. 

U16 Midlands League Semifinal 

Ravens 10-14 Longford RFC 

After the recent loss in the Leinster league final, it was straight back into semifinals action for our U16 side as the took on Ravens in Birr on Saturday. Having won the league fixture in a high scoring home game against Ravens earlier this season, the Longford team expected nothing less than a battle from the hosts to return the compliment and with it take their place in the upcoming Midlands League final. A battle is exactly what they got!

Ravens went straight into a forwards contest, keeping it tight, hoping to power their way to scoring. Longford defended strongly to repel the attack and drive Ravens back into their own half.

Both sides created chances with the hosts having more wasted opportunities. On 20 minutes, Ravens eventually got the opener wide on the right. Under the posts, we refocused our efforts on a kick chase tactic. The response was immediate as Darragh Walsh pounced on the loose ball from our own restart. He popped it up to an alert Conor O’Grady, who spotted a gap and accelerated through from twenty metres to score. What a response! Any confidence the home side had from their own score was just wiped out! The conversion was added to give Longford a 05-07 halftime lead.

Longford needed to up the ante in the second half. The tackle rate remained high as Ravens carried hard into our twenty-two. Longford were defending well, turning it over and clearing well with boot to ball to keep the play down field, forcing Ravens to have to start from deep again each time. Our own discipline slipped as we conceded some unnecessary offside penalties to give Ravens field position. From this they got their second score to go back into the lead. Stern words under the posts were heeded as the Longford side chased absolutely everything with Shane McGuigan, Darragh Walsh and Conor O’Grady leading the way. Jonathan Groenewald was playing more infield to offer options and Ravens were scrambling to cover the different points of attack from Longford. With five minutes remaining, Darragh Walsh took a pass outside the twenty-two, and rounded the fading defence to score Longford’s second try. Senan Murphy tagged on his second conversion and Longford were into a four-point lead.

Ravens restarted and Longford gathered cleanly. From there the boys punted back to keep play in the opposition half. In the last-minute Ravens did get to the red zone to give themselves a chance but their own indiscipline, throughout the second half, again cost them the opportunity and with it also the game. Longford take the win and earn a shot at a Midlands league title next week.

Notable for Longford were Darragh Walsh at 13, Shane McGuigan and Conor O’Grady. Danny Kelly was immense in defence while Aaron Hopkins played a blinder after a long injury layoff. Mark Glynn was excellent at hooker and Jonathan Groenewald continues to be a menace to opposing defences. Today was a team effort with only fifteen players available. Perhaps the most impressive part was that the heads never dropped and that the players found a way to win after going behind in each half.

Longford: James Cosgrove, Mark Glynn, Tadhg McCauley, Danny Kelly, Conor O’Grady, Aaron Hopkins, Harry Byrne, Shane McGuigan, Mel Mulligan, Senan Murphy, Donnacha Golden, Tom Murray, Darragh Walsh, Jonathan Groenewald, Daniel Corr

Midlands Representative teams

The U16 Shane Horgan Cup fifth round took place on Wednesday in Donnybrook. Longford were represented by four players in the Midlands side. Shane McGuigan and Jonathan Groenewald started with Mark Glynn and Senan Murphy coming in from the bench. MCGuigan was a constant menace throughout with Groenewald stretching the Northeast side on the wing. The game was secured in the second half with two quick tries from the Midlands to round off the tournament on a high.

Midlands Girls representative

The trials for next season’s Midlands Sarah Robinson squad took place last week with eight of Longford’s girls in the reckoning. All of Ava Horkan Shauna Hannon Andrea Nolan Mia Rowan Anna O'Connor Isabella Larkin Casey Foran Diana Izekor will be hoping to have the nod from the selection panel in the coming weeks.

Rugby Tour

Throughout its history, Longford RFC has been an enthusiastic host for Touring teams with in excess of 50 Clubs/sides having visited us over the years. With the huge increase in the cost of travel, the advent of professionalism and, more recently, the appearance of Covid, rugby tours (both by the Club and to the Club) have been in decline but it is something which we are keen to reverse and that process begins this coming Saturday when we host the Dunvant RFC (Wales) U15 squad who are over here on a short Easter Tour, staying in Centre Parcs.

Club Bio

Dunvant Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in Dunvant, Swansea in South Wales and are a member of the Welsh Rugby Union. They competed in the Welsh Championship for the first time in 2016/2017, but were relegated back to the WRU Division One West the same season.

No less than Longford RFC in our Community, Dunvant Rugby Club has been an important part of Community life in Dunvant, Killay and surrounding areas of Swansea West ever since it is foundation in 1887 (co-incidentally just a year before the founding of Longford RFC). Dunvant RFC are extremely proud of being the first Village Club to reach the highest echelons of Welsh Rugby, Division 1 (now known as the Premiership) using home-grown talent, before the game turned professional.

Playing much of their early rugby in the local parks, they decided in 1969 to buy thirteen acres of a local field known as "Albert's Bottoms", today proudly known as "Broadacre", where they have three full size pitches, some great facilities and one of the best playing surfaces in Wales. The Club joined the West Wales Rugby Union in 1978/9 in Section E, and in only nine years rose to Section A. With the formation of League Rugby in 1990/1, Dunvant entered into Division 2 (now Div 3) and won it at the first attempt. Two seasons later in Division 2, Dunvant won twenty-one out of twenty-two games to enter the top flight Division 1 for the 1993/4 season with the giants of Llanelli, Swansea, Cardiff etc. Across their seasons in Division 1 they beat them all except Cardiff (27-27 draw) and Llanelli.  An amazing journey through eight Divisions of rugby in only fifteen years. Dunvant have even played international games against Japan in 1993 (L23-24) and Romania in 1999(L10-29).

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

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 & 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

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 does not 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