Longford make it 3 from 3 with a comprehensive win in Mullingar.   17/09/2018

150918 PST Midland League Group Mullingar 05 Longford 41

Longford ended their Midland League Group A campaign with a maximum 15 points from three games after a comprehensive win versus Mullingar.

It was a game in which Longford were in complete control of and would have ran in more than their six tries if a few more passes had stuck.  One of the features of the game which would have impresses coach Glenn Baskett was Longford’s dominance at scrum time where they won a number against the ahead and indeed a number of penalties.

Longford’s first try came in unusual circumstances.  The away team were awarded a penalty outside the Mullingar 22 on the 5 minute mark.  The penalty was struck well by Colm Glynn. However the strong wind caused it to veer of course at the last moment and hit the upright rebounding back into play.  Longford were quickest off the mark with centre Shane Rodgers going over in the corner put Longford 5 points to the better.

Longford continued their dominance and notched up a further try this time on the opposite wing by Joe McGowan, to put Longford 10-0 up after 15 minutes.

The rest of the half was largely frustrating for Longford, who although well on top could not get the final pass away.  The conditions on the night were very windy and wet at times so this helped to conspire against Longford’s brand of all action running rugby.

However, out half Colm Glynn went over under the posts before half time to better reflect the balance of play in the game to leave the score 17-0 at half time.

Mullingar pulled their socks up after half time and defended a lot better, while proving more of a threat to Longford’s try line.  In spite of this, Longford dealt well with all Mullingar could throw at them, along with testing as many new players and positional combinations as possible, scoring four tries in the second half.

First up was a push over try by Derek Farrell and a great touchline conversion by Ryan McHugh after 4 minutes.  Next up was hooker Philly Dardis who finished off a maul after Longford kicked a penalty into the corner on 15 minutes to leave the score at 29-0.  The scoring was rounded off by Shane Rodgers grabbing his second and full back Sammy Murphy running a great line to go in unopposed under the posts to round off Longford’s scoring at 41-0.  To their credit Mullingar managed to go over for a consolation try at the death. 

The stats for this years Midland League Campaign were 128 points scored with only 15 conceded across three games.  Longford will meet Edenderry in the final in late December.  They earned the Midland League trophy against the same opponents last year.

A lot harder tests will face Longford over the course of the Leinster League 1B Campaign, which kicks off next Sunday away to Coolmine.  The Early side kick off at 1.30 PM and the Late Side at 3 PM.  All travelling support will be appreciated.

Coach Glenn Baskett summed up Longford’s Midland League Campaign;

"It was a good finish to our Midland League campaign against Mullingar. With no disrespect to any of the opposition we were hoping to incrementally be tested in each of the games as we looked to use the mini comp as our build up for what will be a hugely competitive 1B Leinster League.

And an aggregate score of 126 to 15 would seem a one sided preparation, but in all honesty while defensively we only gave up three scores we did not perform anywhere near as well as we needed to.

And we have a lot to tidy up ahead of our trip to Coolmine RFC next week. Indeed, on the road back down to Longford the phone calls started about how we approach Coolmine.

On a positive side we got to bring in some new guys who are bringing an energy and new dynamic to the group.

But as always it isn't about one team it is about the Early and Late team again in this year.

Because without the 2 of them pushing each other neither competes to where we need them too.

This isn't a 15 player group or a 20 player group; It's a 30+ player group.

So, we have a lot to try and cover this week ahead of the trip to Coolmine.

But we have achieved what we set out to do by getting a place in the finals day of the Midland League, but for now our attention is fully on Sunday 23rd in Dublin."

Longford Squad; Longford Squad: D Quinn, H Connolly, L Brady, B McManus, B Stewart, H Connolly, P Gallogly, K O’Gorman, N Farrell, C Glynn, J McGowan, R McHugh, S Rodgers, F McGowan, S Flynn, D Connolly, J Murray, P O’Farrell, B Hanley, P Dardis, F Davis, D Geelan, J Geelan, P Antonik, S Murphy & M Casey.












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