31/10/2021 Longford RFC Senior Rugby Notes

Match Reports

Longford Senior Men make it three in a row with hard fought win versus Carlow

31/10/2021 Leinster League Division 1B Longford 18 Carlow 13

By Tommy Butler at CPL Park

Longford came from behind to score a satisfying five-point victory against Carlow in CPL Park on Sunday past.  The game was played on the club’s new state of art 3G synthetic pitch, which undoubtedly helped to contribute to a great spectacle that was played in very wet conditions.  The pitch itself does not have any problems with wet mud but certainly will take a bit of getting used to for the players, as the feel of it, along with the bounce of the ball is a lot different from a traditional grass pitch, especially on a wet day like yesterday.

Carlow came out of the traps quickest and immediately put Longford under pressure.  They capitalised on this by taking an early lead, when they knocked over a penalty from the half way line after only three minutes.  Even though Carlow do not have a 3G pitch they settled on it fastest and used a lot of probing kicks to keep Longford on the back foot.  Carlow put a lot of pressure on the Longford line but for the most part the home defence was very solid, as has been the case so far this season.  However, Carlow then produced a bit of magic when they went from their own 22, the whole way down the pitch to go in a converted try to put all the pressure on Longford.  They flashed the ball to the right and offloaded a number of times, the last one very fortuitously going to hand, they kicked ahead and grounded the ball.  Carlow would have been feeling good about themselves at this stage as they were largely on top, even putting the Longford scrum, which has been a strength for Longford so far this season under pressure.

However, the home side had other ideas and gradually started to establish territory and a foot hold in the match.  Longford worked their way up the pitch and from a nice set piece move Daithi Connolly carried hard, getting stopped just short of the line, which was then fed by scrum half Neal Farrell, to the on rushing Longford No.8 Kieran O’Gorman who crashed over the line for well worked converted try, to shorten the deficit to three points. 

Longford continued to gain momentum and it was a superb solo effort from winger Daithi Connolly that put Longford into the lead, where he intercepted the ball on the left with Carlow on the attack and sprinted from close to halfway, beating a number of defenders on the way to grounding the ball over the try line.  Unfortunately, the conversion hit the post, so the score now read 12-10 to the home side.  Carlow made a few more incisions into the Longford half before half time but the Longford defence was more than equal to the same. 

So, it was all to play for at half time, with the rain now coming down continually.  Carlow got the start they were looking for, when they knocked over a penalty to regain the lead 3 minutes into the second half.  From then on it was all Longford, who attacked in waves and will consider themselves unlucky not to have scored another few tries.  The home side got their reward on 53 minutes with Ryan McHugh knocking over a penalty to regain the lead and then notched on another penalty on 25 minutes to give them a five point lead.  Carlow came well back into it for the closing fifteen minutes on the back of Longford conceding several penalties.  Carlow kicked to the corner and also took tap penalties close to the line but try as they might, they could not breach the Longford line, in what was an immense defensive display.  Longford also had a few moments too in attack but the game ended 18-13, when fly half Aidan Wynne put the ball out after 83 minutes for an extremely satisfying win to move Longford to third in the table and keep up the positive momentum, as they prepare for the visit of Tullow to CPL Park next Sunday, in what is always a titanic tussle.  Remember kick off’s move half an hour earlier in November, with the J2s kicking off at 1 and the J1s at 2.30.

Longford Squad: P O’Farrell, H Connolly, D Quinn, D Geelan, B McManus, A Beirne, H Bennett, K O’Gorman, N Farrell, A Wynne, D Connolly, G McDermott, C Hughes, D McHugh, R McHugh, J Forde, A Beirne, J McGowan, R Shaw & J Geelan.

Senior Men’s J2 eventually succumb to Carlow

Longford Senior Mens J2s had a hard battle with Carlow on the main pitch in Longford on Sunday.  After a very good start, Longford were eight points to the good 20 minutes in, on the back of a fine kick and chase try scored by Owen mcgowan and a penalty from Robbie Shaw.  Carlow slowly worked their way into the game and with 20 minutes to go, the game was finely balanced, with Carlow just ahead 14 to 11, after another penalty from Robbie Shaw.  Unfortunately, the last twenty minutes saw the Longford effort fade somewhat and Carlow ran out 11 to 31 winners.  There were plenty of silver linings on an otherwise cloudy day, with some strong showings from the Longford pack and some nice handling by the backs.  Next up are Tullow at home on Sunday.

Longford Squad : S McKeon, K McDonagh, P Dardis, P Kenny, B Hanley, J Geelan, A Marshall, L Brady, F McGowan, R Shaw, J Mimnagh, T McDermott, K Murray, O McGowan, J Finnegan, N Flynn, M McCallum, P Kirk and B O’Farrell.

Post Match comments from Longford RFC Head Coach Glenn Baskett

“That was a good result against a good Carlow team today. They’ve been going well and you can see why, they came with a lot of confidence, after starting the season well. They have some good operators in there who play the game smart and they made good use of the new 50/22 rule and pushed the ball in behind us.  We go 10-0 down without having had a lot of attacking ball and Carlow’s confidence was high, but I felt if we got some possession and territory we would grow into the game. I don’t like commenting on scores till you have a chance to look at the tape but I felt their first score was covered and to let them in from where we were was dissapointing, but I would like to see it back. Then to win the rest of the game 18-3 on the back of some excellent D was pleasing. We probably didn’t manage the pitch as well as we could have but the goal line D in the last 10min was excellent, that’s not coaching, that’s a want. However, our discipline put us under pressure and we have to be smarter in our pitch geography. Tullow are coming next weekend after a good win today and Maurice will have them well organised for us, so we will need to be better again.”

Longford Senior Women lose out on the road to Arklow

Longford Senior Women made the long trip to the Wicklow, to play Arlow, in their second league game of the season.  They unfortunately lost out on a score line of 19-7.  They have a break next week before welcoming Greystones to CPL Park the following Sunday.

Men’s Leinster League Division 1B Table

Men’s Leinster League Fixtures/Results 2021-2022

19/09/2021 Longford 09 Wicklow 14

16/09/2021 Boyne 13 Longford 08

10/10/2021 Longford 17 Cill Dara 15

17/10/2021 Clondalkin 15 Longford 34

31/10/2021 Longford 18 v Carlow 13

07/11/2021 Longford v Tullow CPL Park (1^st XV 2.30 2^nd XV 1.00)

28/11/2021 Mullingar v Longford Shay Murtagh Park (1^st XV 2.30 2^nd XV 1.00)

05/12/2021 Wicklow v Longford Ashtown Lane (1^st XV 2.00 2^nd XV 12.30)

12/12/2021 Longford v Boyne CPL Park (1^st XV 2.00 2^nd XV 12.30)

09/01/2021 Cill Dara v Longford Silken Thomas Park (1^st XV 2.30 2^nd XV 1.00)

16/01/2021 Longford v Clondalkin CPL Park (1^st XV 2.30 2^nd XV 1.00)

23/01/2021 Carlow v Longford Oak Park (1^st XV 2.30 2^nd XV 1.00)

06/02/2022 Tullow v Longford Black Gates (1^st XV 3 2^nd XV 1.30)

13/02/2022 Longford v Mullingar CPL Park (1^st XV 3 2^nd XV 1.30)

Women’s Leinster League Division 3

Women’s Leinster League Fixtures 2021-2022

03/10/2021 Longford v Portlaoise (Conceded by Portlaoise)

24/10/2021 Longford 17 v New Ross 19

31/10/2021 Arklow 19 v Longford 07

14/11/2021 Longford v Greystones CPL Park

28/11/2021 Naas v Longford

05/12/2021 Garda/Westmanstown v Longford

12/12/2021 Portlaoise v Longford

16/01/2021 Longford v Naas CPL Park

30/01/2021 New Ross v Longford

06/02/2022 Longford v Arklow CPL Park

20/02/2022 Greystones v Longford

13/03/2022 Longford v Garda/Westmanstown CPL Park

The Your Club Your Country Raffle is Back!

Win some fabulous prizes and support Longford Rugby Club. It has been a tough 18 months but now that we are back playing rugby at all levels of the club, we need your support more than ever. Tickets are only €10 and can be bought at this link; https://bit.ly/3jihkQl. or by ‘Googling’ Your Club Your Country. Please encourage your friends and family to buy one, who knows you might be packing your bags for New Zealand next Summer? Thank you for your support!

Longford RFC are one of the most progressive clubs in the country. We field teams at all levels Male/Female throughout the age grades from U6 upwards. Building on the great developments in the club over the last number of years, we opened a brand new state of the art fully synthetic 4G pitch at the start of the season that is fully floodlight. Lots more plans are in the pipeline, so help us continue the good work and please buy a ticket!

Simon Community Sleep Out 2021 in partnership with the Longford RFC

The start of October saw the launch of a new partnership between Longford Rugby Club and the Simon Community for three years in the Sin Bin.  It also saw the official launch of the Simon Communities innovative sheltered housing project on Earl Street, which has helped 14 people move out of homelessness

Like all voluntary organisations the Simon Community and Longford RFC have seen a huge drop in fundraising due to Covid restrictions.  However, the costs continued to accumulate and this led to the innovative fundraising partnership between the two organisations.

The first fund raising event is the ‘annual’ Sleep Out event hosted by Longford RFC, where volunteers commit to spending a night under the stars to try and gain some small understanding of the daily struggle a homeless person endures.  Sleepers are asked to raise as much sponsorship as possible, with all funds raised going to the Simon Community locally and Longford RFC.  The event will take place on Friday December 10^th with registration from 9 PM. 

If you would like to participate please contact Noel Greene 087 961 5766 or Gerry Larkin 086 819 5519 for information and sponsorship cards.

Thanks to Shannonside and Kiernan Steel for supporting the event.

Sin Bin

The Sin Bin Event Centre is back open as per Government Guidelines.  Superb food and drink are available across the weekend (Friday to Sunday) and lunch on Wednesday/Thursday.  Christmas nights are now also available for booking.

Phone 087 346 4914 for bookings or email sinbinbookings@outlook.com.  Check out the Sin Bins Facebook page for updates and specials;  www.facebook.com/thesinbinlongford/