Another defeat on the road for Armagh

CITY of Armagh were on their travels again last weekend to Tom Clifford Park, where they played Young Munster for the first time in their history.

Officials in Young Munster said they had lost 14 players in the close season and they had had a poor start to the season.

They still had a very large pack and in outhalf, Shane O'Leary, they had a real playmaker who controlled large parts of the game.

The 35 year old had retired from senior rugby, but was persuaded to come back and help out and he contributed 12 points from the boot.

Armagh made a number of positional changes and had both Evin Crummie and Neil Faloon back from injury.

City of Armagh started off quite well and more than held their own in the opening exchanges.

They were penalised, however, in one of their first scrums and as the game went on the referee tended to penalise the weaker scrum.

The visitors dominated the first 20 minutes but couldn’t break down a resolute home defence. If they had scored in the first period of dominance this might have put additional pressure on the Young Munster team.

All they had to show for their efforts was a Brayden Laing penalty.

Leary equalized shortly afterwards for Young Munster, when Armagh continued to infringe, both at the breakdown and in open play, giving Munster the initiative, leading to a try from Christian Goss the New Zealander.

O’Leary converted and Armagh were 10-3 down. Armagh, however, continued to press and possibly should have scored when Neil Faloon, on for John Glasgow, knocked on close to the Munster line. Half time arrived with the scoreline 10-3 to Young Munster.

The kick offs from O'Leary were causing Armagh problems, as they went high on every occasion and were challenged by the big Munster pack.

Armagh went further behind when Fintan Colman went over for their second try early in the second half.

Young Munster, playing with more confidence, increased the gap to 21 points, when Fionn Gibbons scored their third try.

Shortly afterwards Aiden Shorthall got the bonus try for the home side. To be fair, Armagh could have given up at this stage, but the young side continued to try and play rugby They were then awarded a penalty try after a rolling maul was stopped illegally.

The visitors continued to fight back and Dylan Nelson was rewarded for his endeavours with a smart finish under the posts to bring the scoreline closer at 29-17.

Young Munster, sensing that another score would bring Armagh a losing bonus point, sealed their victory with a simple penalty in stoppage time.

Final Score, Young Munster 32 City of Armagh 17

The Armagh coaches, players and supporters were bitterly disappointed with the final scoreline.

Too many penalties were conceded giving Young Munster the opportunity to play in Armagh's half.

Both lineouts performed well, with Armagh snatching a couple of Young Munster throws with a couple of crooked throw ins by Treanor and Morton.

The scrums initially were sound, but when the heavier Young Munster pack got the second drive on, it caused all sorts of difficulties.

There were a number of individual errors in both Armagh’s backs and forwards, but some of this comes from chasing the game and some of them because of the pressure from the opposition.

The reality of playing at such a high level is sinking in to the players, but not all the supporters appreciate the commitment and hard work needed by coaches and players at this level.

A lot of teams find Tom Clifford Park a hard place to play and while there is a lot of hospitality off the pitch, on the pitch is different. The whole club now needs to get behind the team and management. The next five games are vital and are probably the most difficult set of fixtures that the club has ever faced. While City of Armagh get two Ulster releases, one of our competitors and neighbours gets 5 or 6. Something is wrong in the system. The next few weeks will be a real test.

Head Coach, Chris Parker commented after the match, “I was really proud of how the players fought back in the final quarter. Unfortunately it was too little, too late. We made big improvements with our management of territory in the first half, but errors when we got into the opposition 22 proved costly. The group are working hard and learning every week and in our performances, we can see aspects of our play improving each week. We now move our focus to a match against the current champions, which is exciting for the squad and another challenge we will embrace”.

This Saturday, City of Armagh travel to Dublin to face Terenure RFC at Lakelands, another huge challenge for the Orchard County side. Kick-off is at 2.30pm and travelling support will be appreciated.