It was a great opportunity to play games against opposition not ordinarily met in north Leinster competitions. The standard was very high and the away teams were in Longford to show off their style and panache, their skills and their determination to win.

Longford 4, Portlaoise 1:
Longford started off in tremendous style with ferocious determination to get to the Portlaoise line. Excellent defence play by Portlaoise prevented an early try and they made two great drives to the Longford line.

On both occasions great tackles by James Heslin and Rory Williams prevented scores and Daniel McHugh turned it around and made a blistering run to Portlaoise try line. The training over the last few weeks concentrated on working as a team - bringing the forwards power together with the backs speed and elusiveness

Three scores followed, all made by distinguished forward supporting devastating speed play by the back row.  Portlaoise took a try at the end by a very good display of passing and tackle evasion by their number 9.

Dara Kirk supported by Danny Griffin and Ben Foy scored the final try in the corner in the dying moments of the game. Portlaoise felt disappointed with their performance, but their coach complemented the team on their consistently tough tackling and willpower.

Gorey 2 Longford 2:
Gorey started with a tremendous burst of energy getting a very quick try before the Longford team had get themselves primed for action. A very tough game followed with Longford scoring a try by Ruadhan McDonnell.

The Gorey scrum half was very quick, but found it difficult to keep Daniel McHugh in his sights. Daniel, Ian McCormack and Eoin Bartley and worked very well and made a remarkable centre team.

Peter and Dara Kirk supported the play in mauls and rucks and were unfortunate not to score in this game. Gorey raced down the wing following a win in the scum and capitalised on two poor tackles to get their second try.

In the second half, Longford regained their concentration and Ben Foy made a lovely run to the 22m line, passed to Ruadhan McDonnell, who offloaded to Ciaran McKenna who flicked it on to Eoin Bartley for a fine try. 

Longford 3 Nenagh 1:
Nenagh were noticeably smaller in stature to Longford as the scrums were easily won each lime buy Longford. The Longford pack mauled the Tipperary boys and two tries in the first half were down to solid forward play.

The backs came into their own in the second half at Edward Mansfield, Ben Foy, Brian Compton and Rory Williams put in thundering tackles. The game ended with a last minute try by Nenagh, as tired legs were beginning to show in the Longford team from their earlier efforts.   

Coaches James Connolly, Joe Compton and Joe Corcoran were pleased with the day and thanked referees Hubie Connolly and Barry Trueick for a job well done.  Bob Savage of Gorey RFC extended an invitation to Longford under 12s and Under 13s to play at their club next year.

With that Bob made a presentation to Maria Keelty of the Gorey Club crest for the new clubhouse. Dave Coughlan of Portlaoise RFC and Liam O'Kelly of Nenagh RFC were delighted with the day and complemented the club for organising such an entertaining day of rugby.

All expressed a hope that this invitational event will occur again and Portlaoise offered their club for next year's event.  

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Under-13s 

Longford 6 Gorey 22 

In an excellent under 13 full 15-a-side and full-pitch game, two teams faced each other with ruthless determination.

Gorey's experience was obvious from the start as they covered the field and passed the pass effortlessly along the back line to get their first two tries on the Longford left wing.

A strong comeback enlivened by Eoin Corcoran, Andrew Moorhead and Eoin Bartley led to a score, but the Gorey team regrouped and rallied to score again.

Valuable lessons on back play, wing coverage and effective tackling were learned. Tired legs were evident and the final whistled saw the deserved winners clap a resolute Longford team at the end of an entertaining game.