City of Armagh RFC 20 Malone RFC 14

Saturday 27th November 2021
Report by Evan Morton

On a cold, crisp day at the Palace Grounds, City of Armagh won their Ulster derby match with Malone to secure another 4 AIL points. However the team blew the chance of a bonus point, when they failed to score a point in the entire second half, after building up a handsome 20-0 lead at the interval.

It was the visitors that made a nervous start and Armagh pounced on a handling error to set up an attack in the Malone 22. A penalty was converted by Kyle Faloon with just 90 seconds played, to open the home side’s account. From the restart, outhalf, Harry Boyd was extremely unlucky his kick into the corner hit the flagpole and went dead. Ryan Morton stole a Malone lineout and the early pressure was all from Armagh. On 10 minutes captain, Tim McNeice made a strong run on the left wing, bringing play into Malone’s 22. Hooker Jack Treanor and brother Gerard, both carried before the scrum half slipped the ball to Neil Faloon to crash over for the game’s opening try. Kyle Faloon converted and Armagh led 10-0.
A facial injury to centre Matthew Hooks saw him replaced by Evin Crummie and another threatening run by McNeice saw the ball turned over and Malone made their first foray into Armagh territory. The home side then won a turnover but had a scare when a clearance kick was charged down. Play moved back to the Malone half and on 17 minutes Andrew Willis made a break on the right wing but the final pass inside went forward.
At the start of the second quarter, Malone looked to put pressure on the Armagh defence following a lineout maul on the 22. A handling error then saw the chance spurned and a penalty to the home side saw them clear to halfway. The Malone backline attacked once more with another dangerous run bringing play into the Armagh 22 but again possession was turned over and Chris Colvin broke out of defence for Armagh to counter. With 35 minutes on the clock, Malone were penalised for crossing in midfield and Boyd kicked down the line. The lineout was secured and following a couple of phases, the outhalf chipped the ball behind the Malone defensive line and fullback Faloon touched down for Armagh’s second try. The try scorer converted his own score and City of Armagh now had a healthy lead, 17-0, reflective of their dominance of the first half. Two minutes before the break, Malone were penalised on their 10 metre line and the Faloon show continued with Kyle successful with his kick, to stretch Armagh further ahead 20-0.
In first half injury time, the home could have scored again when Boyd tried to replicate Faloon’s previous try, but on this occasion the dead ball line saved Malone.

Halftime score, City of Armagh 20 Malone 0

The second half commenced and it was Malone who started on the front foot, courtesy of a couple of early penalties. The Gibson Park side were able to get a foothold in the Armagh 22 and looked to get their driving maul working to get back into the match. With concerted pressure on the Armagh tryline for the first time in the match, a Chris Colvin interception relieved the pressure and the experienced centre, playing in his 100th AIL match, brought play up to the halfway line. Unfortunately that was the centre’s last action, as a hamstring injury forced his departure and the Armagh backline was forced into a reshuffle.

On 50 minutes, Malone’s bright start to the second period was rewarded with a try and it came from a poor clearance kick by Armagh that failed to find touch. Winger Sean Lynch took the score well and Rory Campbell converted to make the score 20-7. Buoyed by this score, Malone returned to the attack and Armagh’s indiscipline was letting the visitors gain territory to set up lineout mauls. The home side then broke out of defence when Nigel Simpson, making his return from injury, broke up to the half way line, but the opportunity was wasted when possession was turned over. Malone were dominating the third quarter and a neat chip ahead was recovered to set up another attack from the visitors.
On 60 minutes Philip Fletcher replaced Pete Lamb in the from row, but the prop was only on the pitch 2 minutes before receiving a yellow card following a series of scrum penalties to Malone. A knock on by the visitors let Armagh clear to their 22 and a good turnover saw another Malone attack stalled. Tim McNeice then put in a great 50-22 kick and from the lineout Pete Lamb, back on the pitch, had a charge as did James Hanna. Boyd looked to spread the ball wide but his pass to Willis was adjudged forward and a certain score from the winger went amiss.

With 10 minutes remaining, Armagh had another attack but frustratingly, possession was kicked away inside the opposition 22. Malone closed the game back on the attack with penalties again helping them down the pitch. Deep in injury time, James McAlister crossed for a valuable Malone try which secured a losing bonus point. Callum Smith kicked the conversion with the last play of the match and the final whistle went with the scoreline City of Armagh 20, Malone 14.

The Armagh supporters were left scratching their head after this dismal second half performance. Instead of kicking on for a bonus point win, the side went off the boil, were disrupted by injuries but kicked possession away constantly, letting Malone counter attack and gifting them two scores. The second half penalty count was Malone 13 Armagh 1 and this told a tale that had the coaching staff fuming.

Head Coach Chris Parker, admitted the last 40 minutes was the worst he had seen this season but in spite of this, the 4 league points were welcome and consolidated the side’s fourth place position in the league table.
“It’s always great to win an Ulster derby and we left a few scores out there today. We will be looking to improve our discipline and ball retention next time out. Our next two matches are against first and second in the league table and we are looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity to test ourselves.”

Next up for City of Armagh is a trip to Cork on Saturday to play league leaders, Highfield.