City of Armagh 16 Banbridge RFC 6

Underdogs City of Armagh made history on Saturday when they reached the semi-final of the First Trust Senior Cup for the first time ever, by defeating neighbours Banbridge 16-6 at the Palace Grounds.

Both teams rotated their squads with Armagh’s Phillip Matthews and John Faloon moving up from the seconds, along with Chris Cousins who was making his senior debut.

A huge crowd had gathered despite the damp conditions and before the match kicked off, a minute’s silence was observed in respect of Past President, Des Fitzgerald who had passed away during the week.

It was the home team who started the match brightly and an early attack almost led to a try on seven minutes. Good forward driving brought play into the Banbridge 22 and a knock on a yard from the tryline let Banbridge off the hook. On 17 minutes a Banbridge prop was penalised and Cormac Fox kicked a tremendous penalty from 45 metres to open the home team’s account.

The wet conditions were making ball retention difficult and Banbridge were hampered by a number of handling errors. Centre Chris Colvin made a lovely break from halfway and Neil Faloon was up in support but Banbridge defended well and cleared the danger.

On 25 minutes, Fox kicked his second penalty of the afternoon to put Armagh ahead, 6-0 which reflected how the game had started. Banbridge put some good phases together and their backline looked threatening but conceded a penalty close to the Armagh line for the hosts to clear. Morrison the Banbridge centre then broke through on the half hour mark and a try looked on the cards but Armagh’s defence managed to hold firm. The visitors then had their best spell of the half with a number of catch and drives in the Armagh 22 but the pressure was relieved with a penalty to Armagh in front of their own posts.
A break from Armagh flanker James Hanna, on for the injured James Morton, brought play into Banbridge territory but the half time whistle went with the scoreline remaining 6 nil to Armagh in what was a tight and tense contest.

The second half commenced with Armagh on the attack and a clever kick ahead from Fox had the Banbridge defence in trouble but they recovered to touch down for a 22. The visitors then stepped up and gear and it was Armagh who were pinned back in their half. A great try scoring chance was lost when the final pass went loose allowing Armagh to relieve the pressure. On 53 minutes, Banbridge were rewarded for their efforts with a penalty opportunity and Adam Doherty made no mistake from 30 metres to make the score 6-3.

Armagh restarted for Banbridge to knock on and the visitor’s scrum was penalised with Fox kicking his third penalty to restore Armagh’s 6 point lead at 9-3.

On sixty minutes Banbridge brought on four subs and their impact was immediate with Ian Porter
pinning the home team back with some probing kicks. All the pressure was now coming from Banbridge and scrum half Porter kicked a penalty to close the gap to 9-6. A clever chip over the Armagh defence almost brought the visitors a try, but the home team managed to clear the danger with a terrific touchline kick.

With ten minutes remaining the Armagh supporters were hoping their team could hang on and their hopes were raised when Ali Birch finished off a great Armagh attack by crossing for a try in the left corner. A superb touchline conversion from Fox made the score 16-6 with the visitors needing two scores to win. Banbridge tried their best to rescue the match but it was City of Armagh who were victorious when the referee blew for full-time.

The Armagh coaching team were delighted with the win and the performance was far superior from the previous week’s outing at Blackrock. “Banbridge was a massive test for our boys and we are delighted to make the cup semi-final stage”, commented Back’s Coach Chris Parker.
The team now takes a well-deserved rest this week and attention will focus on Saturday on Armagh Seconds when they host Coleraine in the Junior Cup quarter-final at the Palace Grounds.