Longford Mini/Youth Notes 22/11/2021   25/11/2021

By Padraig Murphy prgm@me.com

U16’s

The under 16 team played away to Boyne, suffering a 32-07 defeat and unfortunately finishing the game with 13 players on the pitch.

U15 match report

Arklow visited Longford with confidence on Saturday last, having put 65 points on Edenderry in their previous Leinster league outing.

Longford had most of the squad available, with a clean bill of health for once.

Longford started sprightly enough, putting Arklow under pressure from the off. Before long we took the lead in a fine passage of play, putting ball neatly through the hands. Outside centre, Darragh Walsh from out wide, made no mistake in dotting down for the first five pointer. The extras were good from Senan Murphy putting us 7-0 up.

We held our line quite well for the next 10 mins before Arklow eventually levelled under the posts giving an easy conversion. Score 7-7.

Following more Longford pressure on the visitors, Senan Murphy kicked a penalty right into the corner from the 10m line. The resulting line out stunned everyone in a move straight off the training paddock. Wing back, Derek Belton quickly switched to the front of the line to gather and power in from 5m, claiming his 5th try in as many games.

The conversion went slightly wide, but, as the Arklow lads were shouting down the conversion attempt whilst charging it down, the referee allowed Longford retake the kick. This time, out-half Senan Murphy made no mistake from inside the 5m tramlines to put Longford 14-7 ahead.

It was only at the end of the match how significant the retaken conversion was to both sides!

Longford continued to apply pressure confidently. The scrum was rock solid with Ryan Spollen, James Cosgrove and Joseph Davidson absolutely powerful in dominating the front row battle.

Shane McGuigan, having a good outing at fullback, powerfully broke through the tackles on the right to score try number 3. Conversion from Senan was good once again to go 21-7 ahead.

As we made changes, the front row replacements did very well to maintain dominance. Elsewhere, to get all lads on the pitch for valuable game time, we did loose some shape. This allowed Arklow back into the game, scoring two tries in taking advantage of the chances offered. Needless penalty offences resulted in a sin-binning for our fullback. Arklow’s third try came as a result but went un-converted leaving the score at 21-19.

We held out for the win meaning the difference between the sides on the day was literally that one kick of the ball!

However, we take so much from the game. Hugely improved defence line speed, tackling and good decision making in game was excellent.

Final score 21-19.

Scorers: Tries - Darragh Walsh, Derek Belton, Shane McGuigan. Conversions - Senan Murphy 3/3.

Longford squad: 1 Ryan Spollen, 2 James Cosgrove, 3 Joseph Davidson, 4 Conor O’Grady, 5 Danny Kelly, 6 Derek Belton, 7 Jamie Donohue, 8 Daniel Corr, 9 Mel Mulligan, 10 Senan Murphy, 11 Donnacha Golden, 12 Tom Murray, 13 Darragh Walsh, 14 Harry Byrne, 15 Shane McGuigan. Replacements: 16 Darren Kelly, 17 Tadgh McCauley, 18 Aaron Marshall, 19 Dan Donohoe, 20 Corey Harrington, 21 Ronan Maguire, 22 George Burns, 23 William McEntire.

Next outing is the Leinster Rugby Midlands’s area development screening next Saturday morning at Longford Rugby club.

Longford's Darren Kelly carries through the defence

U14 Boys

Longford U14’s we’re defeated 07-26 at home by North Kildare

Under 14 girls.

Longfords 14 girls had a great weekend with a home win 33-15 against the West Offaly Lions.

Would you like coaching rugby to be your day job?

Longford RFC are accepting applications for the position for a ‘Club Community Rugby Officer’ for the remainder of the season 2021/ 2022.

Working under the guidance of the area Community Rugby Officer the successful candidate will be responsible for the delivery of rugby programmes in Longford and surrounding areas and will report to the club’s rugby committee.

The role comprises of working with clubs, schools and community groups to deliver tailored rugby programmes and expand the game within the clubs and schools in the area.

For more information, please see the full Job Description attached.

This position is being offered on a part time (30 hours p/w), fixed-term contract basis until end of March 2022 (with a view to extension until Aug 2022)
All applications should be e-mailed to dbbirdy@gmail.com no later than 5pm on Tuesday 30th November 2021

Full Details can be found at: https://bit.ly/3HSMMPU

Longford RFC to host screening Blitz for Midland U16 Squad

The selection process for the Midland U16 squad gets underway this Saturday November 27th in Longford RFC with a new approach to selecting the squad.  Historically, the process has been that the Midlands area requested clubs for a set number of nominations and these players were put forward into a screening process and the squad is picked from the same.  This year, an U15 Midlands Festival will be used to select players to be brough forward for screening and ultimately the squad.  All U15 clubs in the Midlands are invited to participate in a 15-a-side blitz-type format where the emphasis is on participation (not competitive). The of goal of which, is to see as many of your players play over the course of the day to assess them in their natural team environment. From this festival, a select number of players will be invited to a screening process (after Christmas) which will be the final selection point for the Midlands U16 squad who will play in the Shane Horgan Cup v other Leinster areas later in the season.

Matches kick off at 10 am and will finish around 12.30.  If you want to see the stars of the future from the Midlands of Ireland, this is a great opportunity.

RUGBY PLAYERS WANTED! 

Were you born in 2005 and would like to give the greatest team sport in the World a go? Then this post is for you.

Our U17 team is looking to recruit new players to play rugby this season. Many current Provincial/International players only took up rugby in this age group, so it is a great time to get into the game. You can be assured of great coaching and a welcoming team environment that is suitable for all shapes and sizes.

Don't worry about fitness, we will help you get up the required level and if you have not played rugby or much support before. The most important thing is attitude.

If you are interested or know of anyone interested in joining us or have any questions, please contact one of our U17 coaches Tommy O'Hara 0877649793, Ronan Keith 0868871573 or Jimmy Murphy

0862555621.

We ask all our members and friends to share this post and spread the word!

ONLY 1 WEEK LEFT TO BUY YOUR TICKET & SUPPORT LRFC

There is only 7 days left to buy a ticket for the 2021 Your Club Your Country Raffle, all monies raised go straight to #Longford Rugby Club. Please Support Longford RFC!

Tickets are only €10 and can be bought at this link; https://bit.ly/3jihkQl.

Firstly, thanks to the 100 people who are responsible for all our ticket sales so far. We sincerely ask all our members, friends and followers to buy at least 1 ticket each, that will bring us a long way towards achieving all our ticket sales. We have 600 tickets left and only two weeks to sell them. Your support would mean a lot.

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!

You can see details of the prizes on offer below.

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!




































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