City of Armagh RFC 26 Malone RFC19

History was made at the Palace Grounds on Saturday when City of Armagh defeated Malone to reach the club’s first ever Senior Cup final.

Both teams were understrength and the Armagh pack was missing influential captain, Ali Birch, Peter Starrett, James Hanna and Philip Fletcher. In the backline, both John and Robbie Faloon were injured so the team had quite a different look to it when Malone kicked off in perfect conditions.

It was the visitors who got off to a fast start with a penalty in the first minute being converted by winger Mark O’Conner for a 0-3 lead. Just as in the previous AIL encounter in Belfast, Malone dominated the early exchanges as they sought to stretch the Armagh defence. A further Armagh infringement was penalised by the referee and O’Connor converted for a 0-6 lead to Malone.
The home team had their first threatening attack when flanker Robert Whitten broke upfield and supporting winger, Ryan Purvis was unlucky to be forced into touch on the Malone 22.
Malone quickly turned defence into attack and their sharp backline created an opening for winger O’Connor to squeeze in for a try in the corner. The conversion was unsuccessful but with only 15 minutes on the clock, Armagh were 11 nil down and a difficult afternoon looked on the cards.

From the restart, Armagh turned over possession to launch an attack in the Malone 22. The Malone backline strayed offside and a penalty was awarded, but Cormac Fox struck the post with his first kicking opportunity of the game and the score remained 0-11.
On 20 minutes, Armagh’s full back, Timmy McNeice cut through the Malone defence but the scoring pass to Neil Faloon was spilled. The big number 8 however, made amends five minutes later when he scored Armagh’s opening try. Good continuity by the home team had brought play into the Malone 22 and Faloon burst through a static defence to score to the right of the posts. The conversion by Cormac Fox brought the scoreline to 7-11and the young outhalf converted a penalty on 36 minutes to make the match a one point score at 10-11.

Malone responded with a threatening run from Ulster Academy full back, Jack Owens but Armagh scrambled back in defence to clear the danger. As the half-time break approached, a Malone try looked on the cards but the final pass to winger Bryans went to ground.

The second half commenced with a repeat of the first with Malone exerting pressure in the Armagh 22 with second row Dalton showing his Ulster experience for Malone. The home team infringed at a ruck and O’Conner stretched the Malone lead to 10-14 with 45 minutes played.

Malone went offside at the restart and Armagh kicked to the corner looking to respond with the next score. The ball was spread wide but the Malone defence held firm. James Morton, Josh McKinley and Michael Hoey all carried the ball well and the pressure paid of with a penalty in front of the Malone posts on 51 minutes. Quick thinking by number 8, Faloon saw him take a quick tap and dive over for a converted try. Armagh now had the lead in the match for the first time at 17-14.

Both teams continued to run the ball at every opportunity which contributed to an entertaining game for the large crowd of spectators. On 60 minutes Armagh introduced three subs who had all played under 18 rugby last season, Paul Mullen, Evan Crummie and Barry Finn and the three guys fitted in seamlessly. As the game entered the final quarter, Armagh were enjoying ample possession in Malone territory and a penalty for a high tackle was converted by Fox to stretch the home team’s lead to 20-14.

An attacking scrum then saw centre, Josh Pentland break the Armagh line and O’Connor was denied his second try when the ball went forward a yard from the tryline. Fox cleared to halfway and when Malone spilled the ball in midfield, Armagh surged into Malone territory with desperate defence from the visitors preventing a third Armagh try. Malone then did conced a penalty and Fox made the scoreline 23-14 with five minutes plus injury time remaining. On 78 minutes, a handling error from the visitors gave Armagh put in to a scrum on the Malone 22 and the young front row of Matthews, Hoey and Mullan won a penalty for Fox to put Armagh ahead 26-14 and a personal tally on the day of 6 successful kicks out of 7. In the final minute Chris Colvin kicked a loose ball down the pitch but Pentland was back to recover for Malone and the visitors then scored the try of the day when they ran the ball from their 22 and good interplay saw second row Dalton cross for a consolation score. The final whistle went with Armagh camped in the Malone 22 and the home team had run out deserved winners 26-19.

After the match, Willie Faloon was delighted his team had ended a poor run of results and he complimented the squad members such as Stephen Morton and Barry Finn who had stepped up from the seconds. “We had four nineteen year olds finishing that match and our youth policy is clearly working in Armagh as we endeavour to produce home grown talent for our future. The whole club is thrilled to reach a Senior Cup final for the first time in 142 years and the whole of Armagh with be at the Kingspan for the final”.