Despite the fact that City of Armagh had two narrow defeats in their first 2 league games, they defied all opinion by winning a really tight game in Garryowen. Armagh had only played this famous club, once before in their 150 years and this was in the Bateman cup final in 2019, when they were defeated 45-21. In fact, seven of that team are still playing 5 years later, Morton, Mullen, McKinley, Simpson and Faloon in the pack and Crummie and Willis in the backs. So, this was a first in the AIL and most pundits and some Armagh supporters gave them little hope.
Garryowen kicked off in a game dictated by the very strong and lashing rain, not a day for attractive running rugby, but Armagh certainly played the conditions better. With O’Brien out for a few months, Hooks came back into the starting line up with Nelson coming on to the bench. McKinley slotted back into the second row and Anderson went to the bench. He wasn’t on it for long as after 7 minutes, captain Nigel Simpson had to come off with a shoulder injury. Nigel is just having no luck recently and may be out for a few weeks.
With such terrible conditions, the game was always going to be a real dog fight, but Armagh certainly settled better and fought for every ball. Playing with a strong wind, Garryowen over-kicked on many occasions and the Armagh back three covered very well. In fact, when Armagh gave away inevitable penalties, Garryowen failed to make touch on occasions and Kyle and co were able to field and keep the pressure off. He was terrific under the high ball and never put a foot wrong.
Armagh were upping the tempo now but in tricky conditions the lineouts were very difficult, and Jonny Morton had one crooked throw and one over throw. Garryowen were having their own problems in the lineout. As a result, John Glasgow and Josh Mc Kinley had a couple of steals themselves. When the ball went to Sam Cunningham on the wing, he was able to use his pace and strength to break tackles and set up good ball. The box kicks from Lewis Finlay were on point and the kick chase was good. His half back partner Rocky Olsen was having a sound game as well and his dinks in behind the cover caused all sorts of problems. Garryowen rarely threatened in this first half and when Armagh won a penalty on the 22 after a high tackle on Evin Crummie, Kyle Faloon stepped up and to put Armagh into the lead with 33 minutes gone. They continued to press for another score in the final minute of the half, he slotted over a massive penalty from 5 metres inside the Armagh half to increase the score to 6-0 at half time.
Garryowen realized they would have to up their game in the second half but found a very resolute Armagh defence not willing to give an inch. Tackles were flying in everywhere with some of them not to the referee’s liking. We even had Neil Faloon picking up a loose ball near his own line and punting it 50 metres down the pitch. This was the type of game that Neil likes and time and time again he carried over the gain line making valuable ground. The scrums were still holding their own, but it is a lot to ask a pack last 80 minutes and after the hour, Niall Carville was replaced by Griffin Phillipson.
Griff has only played 3 half matches for Armagh, but he was immediately in the thick of the action, carrying well and standing strong in the scrum. He certainly more than held his own. Armagh continued to press for further scores and from a 22-metre lineout they mauled towards the Garryowen line. When the maul was stopped Lewis Finlay went left on several occasions with the forwards driving for a vital score. The Garryowen defence was being stretched and even when the ball went backwards through the diminutive scrum half legs, he had the ability to gather it and side step his way over the try line for a vital try. Kyle Faloon converted to leave Armagh 13 points ahead. As has happened over the years, Armagh switched off from the restart and Sam Cunningham of all people knocked on. This has often been Armagh’s achilles heel. The last 20 minutes was a real test for Armagh but shortly afterwards, a Garryowen player was yellow carded for deliberate knock on and Olsen was able to ease the pressure with a fine touchline penalty. Armagh could have increased their lead on a couple of occasions. First Dylan Nelson looking sharp, pounced on a grubber from Olsen down the touch line and showing real pace got his foot to the ball but unfortunately his attempted dribble was too strong and he kicked the ball dead. On the other occasion John Glasgow, now captain worked a good lineout move with Jonny Morton and broke around the front. He decided to try and pass to Jonny when he would have been better backing himself and going for the line. With his strength and power, I have no doubt he would have got over and settled everyone’s nerves.
The last ten minutes seemed to be taking forever but the Armagh defence was superb and Garryowen, realizing that the game was up, took the opportunity of a last-minute penalty to get themselves a losing bonus point. Final score Garryowen 6. City of Armagh 13.
For those of us there watching and the 21 guys playing this performance must rank as one of the bravest in our 150 years of existence. It will be long remembered for those of us who were privileged to be there. To be also fair, Garryowen was magnanimous in defeat and acknowledged that the 21 players on the pitch were a credit to the club. Let us not forget the effort put in by coaches and management plus the small band of dedicated supporters that travelled to Limerick.
Coach Chris Parker was really happy with the result. He was delighted with the whole attitude of the squad and felt they adapted to the conditions well. The bench had a terrific impact. Despite the conditions which were horrific for both sides, the team stuck to their game plan. A win away from home especially in Limerick is a real boost for the team to move forward. There is always room for improvement but the squad can relax a bit now with a week off and really look forward to a tough home encounter with UCD.
