City of Armagh First XV made their second trip to Leinster in two weeks and while they were bitterly disappointed last week to lose in Blackrock, they can have no complaints this week. They were completely out fought and outplayed by a very competent Naas side who scored 6 tries to Armagh’s 3.
Compared to the weather last week, a glorious autumn Saturday had many of the spectators in summer clothes and the firm pitch and sunshine made for some excellent rugby. Armagh had a couple of changes in the side with Sam Glasgow unable to travel and Noah Bell coming into the starting line up. This meant a bench replacement in James Lennon, and the Virginian 18 year old made his AIL debut in the second half. Sam Karlsen was also on the bench covering hooker and prop positions with Edward Shekete getting a run out in the seconds.
Club captain Matthew Hooks was deemed fit again and he took his position also on the bench with the unavailable Nathan Hamilton stepping down and Josh Cunningham going to the right wing. Armagh kicked off but couldn’t get any momentum at all in the first half at all. They were particularly bullied at the breakdown where Naas won a lot of the 50/50 contests with their captain Casey in particular doing a lot of damage. With quick ruck ball Naas moved the ball well and their winger Redmond scored 2 tries in the first 20 minutes. It didn’t help matters when Armagh did get into the opposition half, but the lineout malfunctioned on a couple of occasions. There is no doubt that the experience of Josh Mc Kinley is sorely missed in this area. At 33 minutes Naas went further into the lead when their outhalf chipped over a penalty when Armagh were penalised for not releasing after the tackle. With penalties beginning to mount up, Naas went further ahead with a rolling maul finished off by Casey. At this stage Armagh were 22-0 down and a cricket score was possibly on the horizon.
The final bit of play however went Armagh’s way and from their own half good back interplay gave Sam Harris a bit of space. He kicked ahead and won the foot race to score a fine individual try. Owen O’Kane converted to give Armagh supporters some hope in the second half.
Half-time: Naas 22 City of Armagh 7
With Armagh now playing down a slight hope whoever scored the next try would be important but unfortunately Naas scored early in the second half to stretch their lead and get the try bonus point. Armagh had to do something and to be fair they never gave up and scored a try in the corner with their successful maul with Mathew Hooks joining in to score his first try of the season. This gave them a bit of hope and when they emptied their bench they tried to force things and an intercept try on half-way really finished any chance of victory. Scrumhalf Brophy ran in to score under the posts and Ticklepenny converted to leave the score 36 -12 with 20 minutes to go. With Sam Karlson in as hooker and James Gould on in the front row Armagh had a bit of traction in the scrums and Thomas Dougan touched down to score Armagh’s third try. Armagh went further behind in the 79th minute but still could have got something out of the game with the last phase of the game. Unfortunately, the last pass didn’t stick and Armagh came home well beaten 43-17.
There is nothing really that you can say with a 6 try defeat. It is still a very young team, with 6 teenagers in the team and an average age of 23. They should learn from experiences like this. Next week’s game at home against Garryowen is a must win situation and everyone must get behind the team. Garryowen themselves were beaten 43-16 at home but are only a point behind Armagh in the league so it is a must win scenario.
