Armagh3 v Banbridge Match Report 11-01-2019

14 Jan 2019 by City of Armagh Rugby Club

City of Armagh Thirds took on Banbridge Thirds on Friday evening in Provincial League 2 at the Palace Grounds and came away with four points in a close, hard fought, match. Playing under floodlights for the first time this season the team knew that a win against the Banbridge side would set down a marker for their next meeting in two weeks time in the quarter final of the Crawford Cup.
With Trevor Girvan unavailable Andrew Knipe moved to scrum half with Matthew Steenson at 10 and Matty Allen at 12.
For the first five minutes Armagh held out against pressure from Banbridge before making good progress down the pitch towards the Banbridge line. In a typical surging run second row Con Oliver dived over the line but referee Oisin Quinn declared the ball to be held up and called a 5metre scrum. The Banbridge defence held strong and they managed to clear their line and return the play to midfield. The two packs were fairly evenly matched and Neil Lutton, Gareth Graham and John Fletcher in the front row provided Armagh with a firm attacking base. Armagh worked their way towards the Banbridge line and when Knipe dummied a pass from the back of a maul he split the defence and was able to dive over for a try under the posts. Knipe added the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
Banbridge came back with a try of their own left of the posts. The conversion was missed but when Jack Gilpin was sin-binned for a high tackle Banbridge secured the lead with a successful penalty kick.
The second half started strongly for Armagh as they continued to push the Banbridge side towards their own try line. The Banbridge Centre was sin-binned for a deliberate knock on preventing an almost certain Armagh try. The penalty was taken quickly and flanker James Dunne was able to make it to the corner for a brilliantly taken try restoring the Armagh lead. Captain, Connor Simms had to leave the field with a suspected dislocated shoulder and Scott Armstrong came on from the bench. The remainder of the half was a nervous period for players and spectators alike but Armagh held on for a well deserved 12-8 win. We wish Connor well for a speedy recovery.
Armagh: Neil Lutton, Gareth Graham, John Fletcher, Jack Gilpin, Con Oliver, James Dunne, Connor Simms (capt), Joe Clarke, Andrew Knipe, Matthew Steenson, Adam Magowan, Matthew Allen, Dan Reynolds, John Johnston, Andrew Brady and subs Andrew Fletcher and Scott Armstrong.
Scorers, Andrew Knipe (try & conversation), James Dunne (try).

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