Armagh3 v Carrick2 Match Report 23-02-2019

25 Feb 2019 by City of Armagh Rugby Club

Carrickfergus 2nds extended their lead in Provincial League 2 with a convincing 19-36 point defeat of City of Armagh 3rds at the Palace Grounds on Saturday. With the club fielding four teams and a number of players on holiday or injured it was a depleted team that started the match on a lovely afternoon for open rugby. With Shane Toolan on the whistle it was Carrickfergus who made the best start, their powerful pack securing the ball from any scrum and feeding their speedy back line. Two tries, one converted, meant that Armagh were chasing the game from the game from early in the first half. On the half hour Armagh were awarded a penalty in mid-field. The kick by Matthew Steenson found touch within 10metres of the Carrickfergus line The throw in was secured cleanly by Jack Gilpin and fed to scrum half Trevor Girvan then to Andrew Knipe who drove in just left of the posts. The conversion by Knipe narrowed the gap to 7-12.
Towards the end of the half Armagh suffered another blow when Dan Reynolds was sin binned for an illegal challenge and Carrickfergus went another 3 ahead from the resulting penalty. However from the restart David Bingham, making a welcome return to the team, broke the Carrickfergus defence with Alex Starrett on his shoulder. Starrett went on to score and although the conversion was missed the half ended with Armagh just 3 points behind, 12-15.
The second half started much as the first with Carrickfergus running in three tries and more or less sealing the match within half an hour. Armagh kept their focus and camped themselves on the Carrickfergus try line with hooker Gareth Graham going over for a well deserved five points. The conversion by Knipe ended the match on 19-36 to Carrickfergus who now lead Provincial League 2 by 12 points. Armagh have three games in hand but will need to be on top form for the rest of their matches if they want to secure the league. First up it is third placed Dromore seconds away on 9th of March.
Armagh: P Chapman, G Graham, A Mullan, A Starrett, J Gilpin, M McKee, D Bingham, M Steenson, T Girvan, A Knipe, A Magowan, M Allen, D Reynolds, S Armstrong, G Dougan, J Johnston, M Rolston

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