City of Armagh travelled to Lansdowne for their first ever Sunday fixture in the All Ireland League. The match was moved to accommodate the hosts as Leinster were playing at home, the previous evening. The Armagh team sheet had James Mc Cormack at hooker with fellow academy player Cameron Doak boosting the side. There were also AIL debuts for Connor Neary and Mathew Monaghan, but it was a fairly familiar team that took to the back pitch at the Aviva Stadium. The game kicked off in front of a sizable away support and a lively game ensued.
Armagh held on to the ball well for the first 10 minutes but couldn’t break down a resolute defence. Lansdowne, with their sharp backs, looked to spread the ball wide, but fantastic defence from the visitors kept them out. With the penalty count mounting, something had to give and after 20 minutes Lansdowne took the lead through their impressive out half, Madigan. They increased their lead to 12 when fullback Redmond squeezed through the Armagh defence on 28 minutes for Madigan to convert.
Armagh were not going to lie down however and the game livened up for the Armagh side when they got back into a game with their impressive lineout maul. Number 8 Neil Faloon was credited with the touchdown and Kyle Faloon converted to narrow the scoreline to 12-7 at half time. Armagh suffered another blow on the stroke of the whistle when the impressive Neil Faloon was sent to the bin for a high tackle.
The home side started off the second half in similar fashion spreading the ball on every occasion. With them being in the ascendancy, penalties continued to mount up and Armagh could not get a foothold in the game. Their defence was magnificent though and held out on many occasions, frustrating the Lansdowne attack. A terrific intercept by Kyle Faloon in his own 22 was perhaps harshly pulled up by referee Clancey. Lansdowne sensing that they were not going to get 4 tries and a bonus point, increased the gap to 2 scores when Madigan chipped over a simple penalty to make it 15-7. Armagh’s bravery was not rewarded when substitute Jack Mathews increased the Lansdowne lead with an impressive try and conversion to increase. To be fair Armagh never gave up and despite Mathew Hooks going into the bin as well, his fellow winger, Sam Cunningham, got a consolation try in the corner after a crossfield kick from Olsen. Kyle Faloon converted to leave the final score 22-14 to Lansdowne leaving Armagh without even a losing bonus point.
Lansdowne were undoubtedly the better side on the day, but Armagh never gave up fighting and their defence held out on many occasions. Coach Chris Parker said that there were a number of positives to come out of the game and praised his team’s resilience throughout. He was pleased with the team’s commitment and their fight and workrate to the end and said we can take heart from this game going into the Young Munster game next week. He hoped that another good crowd will turn up to support the team in what will be a vital game. Other results went Armagh’s way on Saturday with both UCD and Garryowen failing to pick up points, but vital wins are needed to drag the locals away from the relegation zone. Five points separates 8th from 9th in the table so it is vital that we get a few more wins.
