City of Armagh have now played Cork Constitution 5 times and have never won. They came close on two previous occasions, October 2023, losing 28-21 and last November, losing 28-26 at the Palace Grounds. There were only 2 survivors in the team that played Con in the Bateman cup in 2018, Neil Faloon and Josh Mc Kinley and both played their hearts out on Saturday. Armagh went into the game with two major players missing through serious injuries, Evin Crummie, with a thumb injury and Tim McNeice, out with a bad knee injury, so the team had to make numerous changes with Rocky Olsen going back to 10 and Andrew Willis going to the wing. There was a debut for Charlie Worth in the centre and Josh Watterson came onto the bench. The pack was as usual.
Conditions were ideal for playing expansive rugby, but the game was marred with two more serious injuries to Armagh players, a dislocated shoulder for Mathew Hooks in the first half and a dislocated ankle for Kyle Faloon early in the second half. In fact the game was halted for thirty minutes while Kyle was attended to and taken to hospital. The Cork Constitution medics were absolutely brilliant for dealing with Kyle and Mathew but what was more remarkable was how Armagh continued to play such determined rugby after seeing their teammates being badly injured.
Cork Con started off in determined fashion and had a converted try after 5 minutes. Armagh rallied and nearly had a try of their own when Andrew Willis collected a cross kick from Olsen and almost squeezed into the corner. They continued to keep up the pressure and an excellent break by Mathew Hooks almost got them back in the game. With their very effective lineout maul working well, Matty Hooks joined the pack and went over for a well-deserved score. Kyle Faloon converted to tie the match at 7-7.
Shortly after this, Constitution scored again when their winger, O’Leary darted through a wide gap from first phase ball. Outhalf, Taylor converted again to increase the score to 14-7. Pressure was still beginning to tell and with the Cork team starting to give away penalties, Armagh got back into the game through a well worked try by Andrew Willis. At this stage Mathew Hooks had been removed to hospital and Josh Watterson came on for his AIL debut. Armagh were competing well with the bigger Cork team but there was a bit of controversy about the next score. Armagh were as usual defending well but the touch judge on the left wing flagged for a high tackle and foul play. Cork kicked for the corner and stretched the Armagh defence right across to the other wing where their Daniel Hurley was judged to have touched down in the corner. Taylor again converted to-leave the halftime score 21-12 to Constitution.
Back came Armagh early in the second half when disaster struck. Kyle Faloon joined the back line and was 20 metres from the Con tryline. He got his pass away to Andrew Willis but was tackled and fell awkwardly. Immediately everyone in the ground knew his injury was serious and he was well attended by both Armagh and Cork officials. He was given pain relief and transported to hospital. The game had to be resumed for the remaining 38 minutes but how Armagh played on, no one knows. It took great character and strength from Kyle’s teammates and even Neil, his older brother, was determined to finish the game. Cork Con got another 3 points from the boot of Taylor and a converted try from Jack Kelleher to claim 5 league points, but Armagh came back at the end when a break from scrumhalf Lewis Finlay was finished off by Sam Cunningham to bring his tally this year to 8 tries. Rocky Olsen, knowing there was little time remaining, drop kicked the conversion. There was just about time to restart the game and Armagh fought to the bitter end in trying to get the 4th try and a bonus point. It was to no avail and as a result the team got nothing for their heroic efforts.
There was a good support from Armagh for their players and they were cheered off the pitch for their bravery and commitment. They are a squad of players that anyone would be proud of and they are a credit to themselves, their families and their coaches. Afterwards Chris Parker commented that despite the defeat, there were a lot of positives to take from the game, especially how the squad fought back after the unfortunate injuries. It showed the character and togetherness of the group against what was an excellent Cork side. He was very grateful to the members of Cork Con and City of Armagh for their care and attention to both Kyle and Mathew and he wished them a speedy recovery.
Next up for City of Armagh is a home fixture on Saturday against Dublin side, Clontarf. The match has a 1pm kick off due to the Wales – Ireland game in the afternoon. A big support is requested to cheer the boys on.
