Longford RFC Club Notes 2802202 lrfconnects@gmail.com 

Famous away victory thwarted by last minute try

06/03/2022 Provincial Towns Cup 1^st Round Carlow 19 Longford 18

By Tommy Butler at Oak Park, Carlow

Longford exited the Provincial Towns Cup in the most cruel fashion possible when after leading for most of the game they leaked a late try, which saw the home side eke out a narrow one point victory.

Longford’s last trip to Oak Park Carlow was not one to remember from the Midlanders point of view and this first round clash was one where they could make recompense.  However, it looked like another possible long day for Longford, as Carlow put them under early pressure resulting in a relatively easy try and conversion to give the home side a seven point start.  Conversely, Longford had different ideas about history repeating itself and started to take the match to Carlow.  Longford’s play featured some great running rugby, no doubt honed on their new 4G pitch and bamboozled the Carlow defense for most the first half.  Longford’s enterprising play earned them a converted try courtesy of Aaron Beirne in the 12^th minute after great build up play from the home team.

Longford nearly undid the good work when they conceded a kickable penalty from a messy kick off receipt.  However, Carlow did not convert it, to leave the score at 7 a piece.

Longford then came right back at Carlow and went the length of the pitch scoring in the corner courtesy of George McDermott.  The try was initiated by Cormac Hughes who received a Carlow kick in the Longford 22 and then went on a mazy run, crossing the half way before the ball was worked through the hands, carving out the try scoring opportunity.  Longford continued piling on the pressure and were really on top at this stage and looked good for another try or two.  Then again, just as it looked like another score was inevitable Longford knocked the ball in the process of touching down.  The frustration grew further when as Longford continued to pile on the pressure they were held up on the Carlow line.  Two tries were left abegging and ultimately this would cost Longford at the end of the match, with Longford only holding a five point lead 7-12 for all the pressure and territory they had exerted.

The second half was a much more even affair, where Carlow gradually got the upper hand.  However, Longford registered the first score of the second half courtesy of a Joe McGowan long range penalty, 15 minutes in.  There followed a lot of shadow boxing for ten minutes, when disaster struck from Longford.  A kick over the top was cleanly caught but a poor pass back resulted in Longford conceding a turnover, courtesy of the player being held up resulting in a Carlow scrum 10 minutes out from the Longford line.  Carlow worked the ball right and then left and eventually just squeezed over in the corner for a converted try, to narrow Longford’s lead to only one point.  With a sizeable home support and after surviving Longford’s first half onslaught, Carlow caught their second wind and went at Longford with gusto.  However, one last big effort by the home side looked to have booked a ticket into the second round when they worked their way up the pitch and secured another kickable penalty, which was again converted by the redoubtable Joe McGowan, to give Longford a four point lead, 14-18 at the end of normal time.  Longford gathered the kick off and looked to wind down the clock with some pick and goes and close in carries.  Hind sight is 20 20 vision but the better option was probably to have put boot to ball and force Carlow to play from deep, as eventually a Longford player got isolated giving Carlow a penalty 25 metres out.  Knowing that they needed a try they kicked for the corner.  A herculean effort stopped the Carlow driving maul, they then worked the ball to the right but the Longford defense held firm.  In spite of this the referee adjudged Longford had committed an offence on the right awarding Carlow another penalty that they again kicked to the corner and again Longford held out their maul.  However, they worked the ball left eventually going over for the match winning try in the left hand corner with the last play of the game to break Longford hearts.  This was a pulsating cup match between two good sides but one Longford should have definitely won.  The away side left everything out there but will rue not converting two further try chances in the first half and now will have to console themselves with a place in the Provincial Towns Cup Plate which will take place on Sunday March 27th.

Longford Squad: P O’Farrell, H Connolly (C), D Quinn, B McManus, D Geelan, J Geelan, M McHugh, Aaron Beirne, F McGowan, A Wynne, J McGowan, D McHugh, G McDermott, C Hughes, R McHugh, P Molloy, J Forde, Andrew Beirne & D Connolly.

2^nd XV

Longford 2^nd XV’s Provincial Towns Cup First Round match was conceded by Boyne so they went into the 2^nd Round draw and were drawn to play Division 1B rivals Cill Dara away on March 26^th.

Post Match Reaction from Longford RFC Head Coach Glenn Baskett

“It is incredibly hard to take losing that one today. I felt we were the better team today and Carlow lived off our play as opposed to us off them.

And early error from the kick off had us 7 down in the first couple of minutes but after that we controlled the first half. 2 really well taken tries had us up at HT but we also left 2 out there at their line and I did think those 2 missed opportunities could hurt us, and that turned out to be the case with Carlow scoring 6 minutes into injury time with the last play of the game on the back of a couple of penalties to snatch a 1 point win.

But we shouldn’t have let them back if I’m honest, we probably needed to manage the pitch better late on. However to see the boys in the sheds after so hurt by the loss showed how hard they worked and how much it meant. I thought our bench was excellent today and all 5 boys made an impact which is what u want. Now we’ve got a J2 2nd round cup match v Cill Dara to prep for and we now look to the Towns Playe draw in a few weeks to see where our season goes from here.”

Senior Women

Longford Senior Women travelled to Greystones securing a superb 28-29 win in a pulsating match.  They now face CYM/Garda home on Sunday in their last league match of the season.

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 41 v Greystones 0

28/11/2021 Naas 52 v Longford 15

05/12/2021 Garda/Westmanstown v Longford (Postponed)

12/12/2021 Portlaoise 8 v Longford 5

16/01/2021 Longford 32 v Naas 20 CPL Park

30/01/2021 New Ross 07 v Longford 17

06/02/2022 Longford v Arklow CPL Park (Conceded by Arklow)

06/03/2022 Greystones 28 v Longford 29

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

Big Test for Ireland in Twickenham

The Six Nations is back this weekend with Ireland travelling to Twickenham to take on England.  Both sides need to win to keep their Championship hopes alive going into the last weekend with Wales also facing high flying France on Friday night and Scotland taking on Saturday. England seem to be a team searching for an identity at the moment and the result for Ireland will mean a lot, as if they lose, they will be a lot further back in their preparations for the 2023 World Cup then they wish.  Saying that no matter how England are playing, Twickenham is never an easy place to win.

6 Nations 2022 Round 4 Fixtures

Friday March 11^th Wales v France 20:00

Saturday March 12^th Italy v Scotland 14:15

Saturday Match 12^th England v Ireland 16:45

Sin Bin

The Sin Bin is back open this week from Wednesday January 20^th,  as per Government Guidelines.  Superb food and drink are available across the weekend (Friday to Sunday) and lunch on Wednesday/Thursday. 

Phone 087 346 4914 for bookings or email sinbinbookings@outlook.com.  Check out the Sin Bins Facebook page for update, specials and updated opening hours;  www.facebook.com/sinbinlongford/