Kyle Faloon was the hero of City of Armagh on Saturday when he showed great composure to kick the winning score deep in injury time of a highly competitive game. With the clock in the red, the Young Munster tighthead was penalised for sealing off at the tackle and Kyle rose to the occasion for what was a vital win. Kyle had been injured for most of 2023, with a serious injury but showing great determination, he made his way back to full fitness and featured in Armagh’s last home win in the AIL. It was also a Limerick team that Armagh beat in March 2024, to leave them safe in Division 1A and this win against Young Munster could be as vitally important.
With narrow losses to St Mary’s, UCD, Lansdowne and Cork Constitution, it was vital that the team picked up league points at home. Storm Eowyn tried its best to disrupt Armagh’s plans, but a squad of volunteers armed with chainsaws dealt with any fallen debris and the late frost nearly had the match moving to the back pitch. Referee Jenkinson however was satisfied though that the top corner would thaw out by 2.30pm and the pitch was deemed playable. Armagh made one change to the starting lineup, with Jonny Morton coming back into the side, with Jack Reaney elevated to the bench, joined by Conor Neary and Matthew Monaghan.
Armagh kicked off in fairly mild conditions and immediately showed their determination to record their first win in 2025, putting pressure on YM. An early penalty for YM offside was not used as there was a crooked throw. Young Munster came back at Armagh but Timmy McNeice managed to hack a loose ball down the park and this was followed up by scrum half Finlay for a goal line drop out . A high tackle by YM enabled Kyle Faloon to kick an early penalty after 5 minutes but same as last week, Armagh gave away 6 consecutive penalties and allowed YM to get a foothold in the game. From one such lineout near the Armagh line, their lively scrum half, O’Callaghan broke to the open side and linked up with winger Gilvarry to touch down for their first try. Their impressive Argentinian out half , Leszczynski converted for the visitors to lead 3-7. Further good defensive work by Armagh forced a couple of knock ons when their line was threatened . Captain Simpson, who was having a fine game, was regularly complaining to the referee that Armagh wanted to play with more tempo but Munster were continually slowing the game down. This seemed to have some affect as a couple of penalties went Armagh’s way and after their lineout maul was stopped short of the line, Neil Faloon barged over for his second try in two weeks. Kyle Faloon converted to put Armagh into a slender lead, 10-7. Young Munster were not finished themselves and after Evin Crummie was penalised for a high tackle, YM went to the Armagh corner. A quick lineout throw was thwarted, but Andrew Willis was deemed to have collapsed the maul and was sin binned . Playing advantage, left winger Ihechi Oji was credited with a try which Armagh supporters felt he had dropped the ball over the line. The whistle blew for half time with the score 10-12 in Young Munster’s favour.
The second half was a mirror image of the first with both defences on top despite the teams trying to move the ball wide. Play went from end to end, but with both teams not wanting to concede ground, it became a bit of a kicking contest. Sometimes the back three kicked long and other times there were dinks over the rush defence, but very few scoring opportunities arose. Midway through the second half, Timmy McNeice was tackled high for Armagh’s fourth penalty and in obvious pain, had to be taken off the pitch. Kyle Faloon kicked the resultant penalty to edge Armagh ahead 13-12. With the game so tight, Willis went to the wing, Sam Glasgow came into the back row and Paul Mullen joined the fray. Both he and Philipson were prominent in both carrying and defence and as the game went on it looked likely that the next score would seal it. Both Sam Glasgow and Nigel Simpson won vital turnover ball, but surprisingly Faloon missed touch from a penalty. Back came YM and 4 minutes into injury time, their excellent outhalf broke Armagh hearts with a penalty from 45 metres for the visitors to lead 13-15. From the restart, Armagh chased down the kick and with Young Munster trying to wind down the clock by setting up mauls, their tight head prop, Begley, went off his feet and sealed off. The pressure was now on fullback Faloon and with the last kick of the game he secured 4 points for Armagh with a superb kick.
City of Armagh were jubilant to have secured the win in a game that could have gone either way. Their defence was again magnificent and the courage shown was remarkable Their scrum was solid and the lineout, after a couple of wobbles, functioned well. Head coach, Chris Parker praised his 22 players for their commitment both on the training pitch and in the game. He was delighted for the squad to get over the line with a win at home. There is still much to improve upon before the team travel to Cork on February 8thand the next block of games. Credit should be given for the team digging in and he hopes that this will give them confidence for the next 6 games.
