Development XV lose out on famous cup victory at the death   05/02/2018

04/02/18 Provincial Seconds Towns Cup First Round Gorey 27 Longford 26

Longford Development side will be wondering how this game slipped from their hands the cup competition. The Provincial Towns Seconds Cup saw

them travel to Clonattin in Gorey, County Wexford for an absolute cracker of a game.  Longford have put in some fine performances thus far this season, and for sixty minutes this was one of their best. The mixture of experience and young talent under the guidance of Robert Lee has seen the Development squad notched up some impressive wins and right to the final stages of this contest it looked as if this could be another one.  This was a great advertisement for the joys of Cup rugby.  A hard fought game played at a high intensity, with 100% commitment being the order of the day. There was tremendous tackling from start to finish with Longford responding well to impressive running attack of the home team.  The first score of the game came from the Gorey kicker.  The early penalty left it at 03-00. Longford responded well with a try by prop forward Padraic Farrell completing a move started at the line out. After this score a lot of game time was spent between the 22s.  Finbarr McGowan's attacking verve was the impetus for the next try. The full back came from inside his own half to secure his side's second under the posts. Aaron Beirne converted to leave it 03-12.  But an impressive break by Gorey shortened the gap to 10-12 where it stood at the break. All of the momentum swung to Longford in the early stages of the second half. They harassed and pressurised the Wexford men and met

every attack with a square and solid defence stopping any progress in its tracks.  Longford played the thrilling attacking rugby this development side

has become know for this season as the game continued.  The next try came when a team push ended with James Connolly grounding and Beirne

plugged on the additional to leave it 10-19. The next was another pack score as Liam Brady finished off a move that started in the coaching ground.  Beirne had a difficult angle but slotted it over with ease to leave it 10-26. As the clock wound down Gorey got a lease of life and two unconverted tries brought it to 20-26.  It was heartbreak for Longford in the closing minutes. A try out wide brought it to 25-26, but the kicker put the boot in and ensured that it was the wexford side that would be going forward to the next round of the cup.  Difficult to pick out individual performances. It was a great team performances. Spilling three tries in the last ten minutes and losing with the last kick of the game made this the hardest defeat for any Longford team in quite a while.

Next weekend Longford performance have a tough task when they meet Enniscorthy. The former All Ireland junior champions have the home

advantage and this will make a tough ask all that more difficult.

1. Padraig O’ Farrell 2. Philip Dardis 3. Liam Brady 4. Arron Beirne 5. Michael Cullen 6. David Geelan 7. JohnJamesJj Cox 8. Derek Farrell 9. Lorcan Connolly 10. Robert Lee 11. James Mimnagh 12. Sean McGuinness 13. James Connolly 14. Finnbarr McGowan 15. Cian Bannon Subs 16. Justin Murray 17. Karl Murray 18. Darragh OConnor 19. James Geelan 20. John Geelan 

Longford RFC Development XV











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