Senior Men Promotion Prospects, U12s play in RDS & Kieran O’Gorman named Leinster Juniors Captain…

By Tommy Butler Longford RFC PRO tommylbutler@gmail.com 

Senior Men

Promotion Prospects

As regards playing rugby the Senior Men’ season finished last weekend.  However, all eyes were on the bottom of the AIL/Provincial Round Robin to see if results would go our way for promotion to Division 1A.  Alas, the injury time jinx hit again as Seapoint lost to a last minute try.  The two other results with both Tullamore/Enniscorthy winning went our way, but unfortunately at the moment we are staying in 1B next season.  However, there is one last chance; Seapoint now enter into a play-off against the second placed team in the Provincial Round Robin, namely Clonmel on Saturday April 27^th for a place in next seasons AIL.  If Seapoint win we go up to 1A and if they lose, we stay where we are.  It will be a tough ask for Seapoint but you never know.

Feature Length Interview on Shannonside FM

Director of Rugby Niall Moran, Head Coach Glenn Baskett and PRO Tommy Butler joined Kevin McDermott in the Shannonside FM Studio yesterday for a feature length season review.  It is well worth a listen.  You can access a podcast at this link; https://bit.ly/2v4fOb1 

Senior Awards Night & Derek Belton/Derek Bannon Memorial Game.

The End of Season Senior Men’s/Women’s Awards and the Annual Derek Belton XV v Derek Bannon XV Memorial Match will take place on Friday May 3^rd.  It is always a great night and a great way to start off the Bank Holiday weekend.  A reminder to all our past players to get the gear out of the cupboard and get it dusted down and ready to go!

Leinster Junior Squad

Congratulations to Benny McManus and Kieran O’Gorman who were both named in the Leinster Juniors Squad that will be defending the Provincial title after last season’s win.  They are in good hands with Damian Curley involved in the team management  In a big honour to the club and player Kieran is named Captain for the second year in a row!

Leinster Junior Squad including Captain Kieran O'Gorman.  Benny McManus is missing from the picture.  Also pictured is Damian Curley (Technical Assistant) and Blaitin Brady (Physiotherapist) both from Longford.  Team Doctor Paul Trueick is also missing from the picture.

Longford Women (Warriors)

Longford Senior Women are now finished playing rugby for this season.  They made serious strides this year under Head Coach Nuala McGoey and integrated a lot of new players.  The first Girls underage rugby was also played this year with some of the players even graduating to Senior rugby by the end of the season.  Well done to Lisa Brady and her support team in getting it going.  The start of next season cannot come fast enough and if you want to take Women’s rugby at Underage or Senior level even with no previous experience the door is always open.  Stay tuned to our Website/Social Media for updates.

Longford Mini/Youths

A great season is now winding down.  Some teams are still training, so check with your coaches.  The U12s played a match during the half time break of the Leinster v Glasgow game in the RDS this Saturday, a match report is below.  The U8s&U9s headed to Old Belvedere this weekend for an end of season festival.  The U15s went on tour to Midleton Co. Cork this weekend where they played in a tournament.  Well done to the team and coaches as the trophy is coming back to Longford!  The U13s are continuing to train on Thursday 7-8.30 PM and have a Midland Bowl Final v Birr on April 27^th in Mullingar.  The U18s plan to keep training with their last match in Tullamore on April 27^th before rounding the season off with a barbeque.  Finally, the U12 & U18 girls play in Virginia on April 20^th.  Make sure to put Sunday May 12^th in your diary as the Mini/Youth Awards take place in the club starting between 5-6 PM.  

 Minis End of Season Wrap

And there we have it. Season 2018/2019 draws to a close for Longford Minis with festivals for all teams last weekend and this weekend. We have put in a lot of training over the winter and played a lot of games both home and away, some further away than others! We had bus trips to away games which was a big part of the fun. We took large group trips to the RDS and the Aviva to support Leinster Rugby (with a couple of semi-finals to come). All in all ,we have had a really great season, making lots of new friendships along the way. Here’s looking forward to next September already. Thanks a million to all players, parents, coaches, club members, committee and board for all the help throughout the season. We will regroup in August/September to do it all again.

Dates of your diary

Saturday April 20^th

U12 & U18 Girls v Virginia (Away).

Saturday April 27^th: 

U13s Midland Bowl Final v Birr in Mullingar.

U18s v Tullamore (Away).

Sunday May 12^th

Longford RFC Mini/Youth Awards starting at 5PM.

Match Reports

U12

Our final outing of the season saw the team travel to the RDS to play an exhibition match during the Leinster v Glasgow clash on Saturday last. Over 60 people joined the group to cheer on the lads. From our arrival in the Ballsbridge venue the boys were immediately mixing it with the stars as the Leinster players were filtering through to the changing rooms. The excitement was rising and the thrill was really sinking in. We had a team photo on the pitch with Leinster forwards Jack Conan and Bryan Byrne.

After an exciting first half we were then on centre stage. The lads were targeted with tight marking and fast line speed to shut down the opposition in possession. They did not disappoint. Both teams were carrying into contact well but it was the Longford team who were making all the ground going forward. Indeed great tackling across the pitch kept Athboy pinned in their own half.

Excellent runs with ball in hand from Jamie Donoghue, Mitch Clarke and Tom Murray kept pressure on but good defense from Athboy kept them in the game.

We ran on all permitted subs at half time and the onslaught on the opposition try line continued as Harry Byrne, Niall Connaughton and Darragh Nash all had a go. The pressure was yielding us penalties for infringements and a couple of scrums nearly saw us score with Tadgh McCauley driving straight for the try line only to be held out! As the time was running out we won another penalty 7m out. This time Senan Murphy took a quick tap and raced through the gap to score. With that it was all over and both teams ran a lap of honour around the RDS pitch.

The match was very sporting and played in great spirit by both all. The Longford lads all played their part in an exciting game showcasing their talent to the thousands of fans in the RDS. Longford RFC can be very proud of the lads coming through the ranks representing the club. We hope everyone enjoyed the game and hope to see all back again next season.

Longford team: Sean Ginty, Tadgh McCauley, Daniel Corr, Jamie Donohue, Matthew Kenny, Danny Kelly, Derek Belton, Senan Murphy, Tom Murray, Darragh Nash, Harry Byrne, Mitch Clarke, James Cosgrove, Shane McGuigan, Mikey Glennon, William McEntire, Niall Connaughton, Daniel Fahy, Mel Mulligan, Donnacha Golden and Ryan Spollen.

Club News

Great Food/Events at Longford RFC

The Sin Bin at Longford RFC serves great quality and value food on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday from 12-3 and 12-7 on Saturday and Sunday.  Booking for events such as birthdays, christening, confirmations, communions, weddings and funerals are also available.  For bookings and information phone Kris on 0872872357.

4G All Weather Pitch Rental

Our state of the art floodlight Mel Diffley 4G pitch is available for rental.  It contains shock absorption so that players can play contact sports/fall over without hurting themselves.  It is also perfect for 5 a side soccer.  If you would like to book it phone Damian on 0862757103.