GALWEGIANS 10 CITY of ARMAGH 26

City of Armagh travelled to Galway on Saturday to play their second fixture in the Ulster Bank All-Ireland League. Having narrowly won at home against Greystones, they faced a tough task to secure a win against formidable opposition who had come down from Division 1B.
Galwegians kicked-off playing into the wind and it was clear that the fierce wind would play a major role in the game. Straight from the kick-off Armagh’s captain, Ali Birch, made a strong break down the centre of the field to bring play deep into the home 22. From the following ruck, the home forwards were penalised and outhalf, Cormac Fox stepped up to land a difficult kick to open the scoring at 0-3. With the wind at their backs, Armagh took full advantage and pinned the home team back in their own half for most of the first quarter.

After twenty-one minutes play, Armagh launched a rolling maul from a lineout to bring play right up to the Galwegians’ line and second row, Peter Starrett forced his way over to score in the right corner. The conversion was unsuccessful but the visitors now led 0-8. The Armagh side appeared to be the more adventurous and were taking full advantage of the difficult conditions. Galwegians however did put the visiting team under pressure when they gained territory though a number of penalties but the Armagh defence held firm.

A handling error robbed Galwegians of a certain try and Armagh were able to relieve the pressure from the heavier home pack. Indeed the home side were further punished when a further infringement saw the referee award Armagh a penalty for Fox to convert, which stretched their lead to 0-11. A good first half performance from the visitors was rewarded just before the break when winger Andrew Willis forced his way round his opposite number and touched down at the posts. A successful conversion from Fox brought the halftime score to
0-18.

The large contingent of Armagh supporters knew that the wind would now be at the backs of the Galwegians team and wondered if 18 points be enough to secure the game.

From the restart, Galwegians out-half, Morgan Codyre, immediately took advantage of worsening conditions with wind and driving rain and repeatedly landed touch kicks deep into Armagh’s 22. The home pack then used this possession effectively to pin Armagh back and threaten the visitor’s line.

A knock on close to the line ruled out a try for the home team but they got on the scoreboard when Codyre converted a penalty to make the score 3-18.
This was cancelled out however when a rare Armagh attack led to another Fox penalty and Armagh’s lead was now 3-21. Directly from the re-start the home side continued to exert pressure on the Armagh line. This was interrupted when, following some neat off-loading, Andrew Willis made a break up the right wing to score his second try of the match. Despite the conditions, Fox landed the conversion for a comfortable 3-26 lead for Armagh.
As the final whistle approached, Galwegians finally breeched the Armagh defence when centre Murphy touched down and Codyre’s successful conversion brought the final scoreline to 10-26.

A dogged performance in difficult conditions from City of Armagh pleased the coaching team, and Willie Faloon, awarded his man-of-the-match award to Robert Whitten for his strong defensive play.