City of Armagh had their last regular AIL game last Saturday against old rivals Ballynahinch but unfortunately came up short in a 22-29 defeat. With UCD winning in Limerick assisted by 9 Leinster academy players, Armagh would have needed 4 points to avoid the relegation play offs. It just didn’t happen and regrettably the local side lost 3 more backs to injury, when already their resources are stretched. Played in glorious sunshine, Hinch kicked off and put Armagh under considerable pressure. They held out well until about the 10th minute when both Lewis Finley and Charlie Worth went off injured. Josh Watterson had to go into scrum half and for a while it looked ominous for Armagh. Hinch took the lead after 15 minutes when Ulster back row Marcus Rea barged over for a soft try converted by Conor Rankin. Shortly afterwards, try scoring machine, Clayton Milligan went over for a maul try, again converted by Rankin. At 14 nil down things didn’t look good for the home side, but Conor Neary got them back in the game with a fine individual try from close out. He however blotted his copy book minutes later when going off his feet to give away Armagh’s 4th penalty of the afternoon. To be fair Hinch were infringing quite a bit themselves and gave away 3 penalties in quick succession. Armagh didn’t find touch on one of these occasions and this let Hinch extend their score when winger Ruari Meharg popped up on the left wing to squeeze in at the corner. Some of the home supporters thought he was in touch, but the referee and his assistant gave it, making the scoreline, 19-5.
With the news coming across that UCD were leading at Young Munster, it was imperative that Armagh got something and this they did when Neil Faloon dived over after a series of drives from his forwards. Rocky Olsen converted to leave the half time score, City of Armagh 12, Ballynahinch 19.
It was important who scored next and it was Armagh, through Olsen playing at full back. He showed a lovely turn of pace to stretch through the Hinch defence to narrow the scores to 2 points. Straight from the kick off, Matty Monaghan was hit very hard on receiving the ball and his slight build could not withstand a heavy hit from a Hinch forward and he dislocated his shoulder. Another back injured. Hinch increased their lead when Armagh didn’t clear their lines and Meharg went in for his second try after Armagh were short on the blindside. Rankin converted to leave the margin 17-26. Hinch’s discipline started to deteriorate and having given away a 13th penalty, McCusker was sin binned. Armagh’s numerical advantage paid dividends when Niall Carville went over for Armagh’s 4th try, again unfortunately not converted. With 15 minutes remaining Hinch made sure that Armagh would get little opportunity to score again when they opted to kick for goal and therefore Armagh needed 2 scores. Try as they could and this young side didn’t lie down, they fought to the end with Hinch continually falling foul of the referee. Their captain Bradley Luney was warned several times about their discipline with a second yellow card being given. In the final minute with Armagh chasing the game, their back play broke down and in the clear out, Andrew Willis was red carded for dangerous play. The final whistle blew much to Armagh’s dismay.
In summary this was a tight game played by two evenly matched sides. Armagh’s lineout was excellent with James Mc Cormick finding an array of jumpers. The scrums were solid but losing their talisman Finlay so early was pivotal. Armagh, as usual, never gave up and kept fighting to the end. It was great to see Evin Crummie back playing especially after James’s tragic injury last week. If one was to be critical of the team, it was the fact that at times, they didn’t protect the ball enough. Coach Chris Parker was rightly disappointed about the result, which meant UCD secured Division 1A status for next year while Armagh go into the play offs against a UCC team. He commented that this was not where we wanted to be but that the team stepped up their performance from last week and that a good training week will help. Injuries have taken a heavy toll but the next man up mentality from the squad has been fantastic and he cannot praise the attitude and resilience enough. In two week’s time, City of Armagh face UCC at home and if they win this match, they play the winners of the Nenagh Ormond or Blackrock fixture a week later.
