Armagh1 v Highfield Match Report 30-11-2019

2 Dec 2019 by City of Armagh Rugby Club

Highfield RFC 21​City of Armagh RFC 13
Saturday 30th November 2019
Report by Richard Black

City of Armagh made the long journey to Cork on Saturday only to return with nothing to show for their efforts. A try 4 minutes from time denied the visitors a losing bonus point. The tactics deployed were to run the big Highfield pack around the park, to still be in the game after 60 minutes and then the side’s fitness would kick in for the last 20 minutes. Most of this went according to plan, except for the final 10 minutes.
Captain Robbie Whitten lost the toss and it wasn’t a surprise when Highfield elected to play up the hill in the first half. Cormac Fox kicked off in dismal conditions and for the first 5 minutes Armagh attacked but couldn’t break through a resolute defence. The penalty count began to creep up with Highfield kicking to the corner. Surprisingly they lost the first three lineouts and could not get a foothold in the game. Armagh’s defence was brilliant though and the visitors were able to neutralise the attack of Highfield. It was Armagh that took the lead through the boot of Cormac Fox when he chipped over a simple penalty. Highfield had two great chances to score but their final passes were dropped and Armagh survived.
Highfield then sorted out their lineout problems and stepped up their assault on the Armagh line only for heroic defence to hold out. Something had to give however and it was little surprise that Highfield got back into the game with a converted try after 30 minutes. With JJ Scheepers and Neil Faloon carrying well, Highfield themselves started to give away penalties and when they strayed off side, Fox reduced the margin to one point coming up to halftime.
Unfortunately, in the second half the number of penalties conceded by Armagh meant they couldn’t get any real field position and with the Armagh pack struggling at times in the scrum, out half Shane O’Riordan stretched Highfield’s lead with 2 more penalties. At 13-6 down after an hour’s play, one would have feared further scores being conceded. Cormac Fox had different ideas though and after good hands from Phil Fletcher, the outhalf squeezed through the tightest of gaps and side stepped the full back to sprint in under the posts for a fine individual try.
At 13-13 it was still anybody’s game and Armagh would have settled for the 2 points. Just in the same way as in the Old Belvedere fixture, their luck ran out and when referee Cillan Hogan awarded Highfield a 40 metre penalty for holding on in the tackle. O’Riordan edged the home sides ahead 16-13.
Armagh had one further chance to score, but for the only time in the match, their lineout failed and the chance was lost. With the referee losing patience another scrum penalty was awarded and Paul Mullen was yellow carded 4 minutes from the end. Armagh had still the opportunity of a losing bonus point but again another scrum penalty near the end resulted in a driving maul close to the Armagh line. Highfield drove over the line to seal their victory.
Armagh’s pack stood up to the heavier Highfield pack except in giving away 5 scrum penalties. The lineout functioned well all day except for the last one but they lost some ball at the breakdown. The backs tackled like demons and showed some attacking promise but the whole team and coaches left Cork very disappointed. With all the other results going against City of Armagh, they find themselves in a difficult position in the league and looking over their shoulder.
Next up for City of Armagh is a home derby game this Saturday, against Malone and the team would ask for more local support to get the team back on the winning trail.

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