Banbridge RFC 10 City of Armagh RFC 20

Saturday 2nd October 2021
Report by Evan Morton

City of Armagh made the short journey to Rifle Park Banbridge for their opening fixture in this season’s Energia All Ireland League and following an impressive performance, came away with a victory and four valuable league points. The team welcomed back Nigel Simpson, Paul Mullen and Shea O’Brien but captain, Tim McNeice was absent with an injury picked up the previous week at Queens.

Conditions were near perfect with the sun shining, as the visitors kicked off their first AIL match in 18 months. A scrum penalty to Banbridge saw the home side exert early pressure in Armagh’s 22 and with just 10 minutes on the clock, Adam Doherty stepped inside an Armagh defender to touch down for the game’s opening try. The full back converted his own score and Bann led 7-0. From the restart, Banbridge kept possession and went through a few phases but an error let Armagh pressurise the home side but Bann managed to clear the danger. Another knock-on by the visitors gave up a good attacking position and outhalf Josh Cromie kicked deep into Armagh territory causing winger, Andrew Willis to scramble back. Following an Armagh lineout on their 22, the ball was moved wide by Kyle Faloon who linked with Mathew Hooks to bring play up to halfway. The winger then passed inside to centre, Shea O’Brien who sprinted 50 metres to score a brilliant try for City of Armagh on 17 minutes. Kyle Faloon converted and the game was tied at 7-7. At the start of the second quarter Armagh conceded a couple of penalties to let Bann get territorial advantage and Morrison kicked into the Armagh 22 for an attacking lineout. Armagh then lost second row John Glasgow to injury and Ollie Miller came off the bench. From the lineout it was Miller who won a great turnover to relieve the pressure on the visitors. The home side continued to dominate possession and they looked to set up another attack from their half.. Disaster struck for Banbridge when Matthew Hooks intercepted a pass on the halfway line and streaked away to touch down under the posts for Armagh’s second try. Faloon’s conversion was successful and with 30 minutes gone, Armagh now led 7-14.

Banbridge looked to respond and Armagh prop Philip Fletcher turned over Bann possession for Faloon to put in a terrific clearing kick. Armagh then had an attacking spell in Bann territory and the referee penalised the home side on their 22. Kyle Faloon went for posts and a scrapy kick went over, aided by an upright to stretch the visitor’s lead to 7-17.

Banbridge then made a line break and brough play deep into Armagh territory. A good turnover saw Armagh clear but Bann countered again. A penalty to the home side gave Doherty a shot at the posts and he made no mistake, to narrow the gap to 10-17 on the stroke of halftime. In injury time, Banbridge look set to score but a knock on saw the opportunity lost and at the interval, City of Armagh were ahead 10-17.

The second half began and Armagh outhalf, Romain Morrow put in a good kick into Bann territory but the home side cleared and soon were attacking in the Armagh half. A penalty attempt on 47 minutes was missed by Bann and Jack Treanor joined the action from the Armagh bench. The visitors then had a good attacking spell in Bann territory with their backline looking dangerous but a penalty for a high tackle gave the home side an easy exit. Armagh’s Neill Faloon then picked up an injury, with the experienced James Morton coming on as replacement, adding to his record AIL club appearances.

As the game moved into the final quarter Banbridge still struggled to breakdown the well organised Armagh defence. On 63 minutes, Bann were penalised just inside their half and Armagh’s Kyle Faloon was successful with a superb 45m kick to edge the visitors ahead, 10-20.

Armagh then had to defend a lineout on their 22 as Bann threatened again and Ollie Miller made a crucial steal. The final ten minutes saw a tremendous defensive display by City of Armagh as Banbridge threw everything into attack. With penalties being conceded by the Armagh pack, Ollie Miller was sent to the sin bin and the 7 Armagh forwards had a battle on their hands to defend their line as the heavier Bann pack tried to force their way over for a score to claim a losing bonus point. With official time up, Armagh broke out of defence but spectators were kept entertained as Banbridge had one final attack and were awarded a penalty 30 metres out but their attempt at goal was unsuccessful. The final whistle went and City of Armagh with a very impressive performance, had secured victory by a 10 point margin.

Armagh Head coach, Chris Parker was delighted with the result, “any win at Rifle Park is hard earned and we are pleased with the 4 points against a well-drilled Banbridge side. We defended for long periods and the work rate and attitude from the players was outstanding. It was great to see 19 year olds John Glasgow and Romain Morrow make their AIL debuts and both looked comfortable at this level.”

This week City of Armagh are at home to Dublin side, Old Belvedere with a 2.30pm kick off