061116 Leinster League Division 2A Newbridge 12 Longford 29

Longford Senior Men's First XV put together another fine performance last Sunday to secure another bonus point win over a Newbridge team that could not contain the consistency and accuracy of a side that is growing in confidence with every outing.

Having ironed out a few problems early in the season the men in black have built good momentum going into next Sundays top of the table clash away to Cill Dara.

Longford backs may have got the lion’s share of the tries in this game, notching up a total of three of the five, but it was made possible by a mammoth pack effort. Chalking up the scores for the first eight Hubie Connolly crossed the line twice at Rosetown as his side comprehensively consigned the Kildare man to the loser’s enclosure.

The visitors opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a try from Shane Rodgers. The conversion left it 0-7. Despite missing out on a couple of penalty opportunities the Midlander’s added again when a Cormac Hughes try brought it to 0-12, Connolly then crossed in the 37th minute and the conversion left the scoreboard 0-19. Newbridge picked up the pace as the first half wound to a conclusion crossing the whitewash in the 42^nd minute to leave it 5-19 at the break.

In earlier outings Longford, had lost momentum when they had secured substantial early leads, but in this fixture, they continued their domination for the full 80. An early missed penalty did not interrupt the flow of the team and in the 60^th minute Joe McGowan secured the bonus point when he crossed the line. Five minutes later Newbridge broke into double figures, the conversion leaving the score line 12-24. However, Connolly got his name on the score sheet for the second time on the afternoon to leave the final score 12-29.

Silken Thomas Park is the next venue on the agenda as Longford are back on the road next Sunday. Cill Dara are sure to provide Longford with a very tough contest in this top of the table clash.

Longford Squad; Kevin Rogers, Hubie Connolly, Justin Forde, Benny McManus, Anthony Hughes, Barry Stewart, Derek Farrell, Paul Gallogly, Neal Farrell, Daniel McHugh, Joe McGowan, Cormac Hughes, Shane Rodgers, Eoin Bartley, Ciaran Kennedy, Dylan Quinn, Aaron Beirne, John Geelan, Ronan Keith, Colm Glynn.

Longford 2nd XV scored their second win of the season on an impressive scoreline of 37-20 win v Newbridge.  This is the first time that both Longford 1st & 2nd XV have won away from home in a number of seasons.