Men's 1sts v Armagh- Match Report

FT: City of Armagh 12 - 27 Blackrock College RFC

The rain had ceased and we were back in AIL action with a pivotal away trip to City of Armagh. Rock, sitting precariously 1 point ahead of the relegation playoff spot knew backing up their previous win v Naas was paramount.

The game started frantically and a flurry of penalties for Blackrock meant they camped on their opposition's line for the first quarter. It looked as though 3 points was going to be the maximum they would take after strong home defence, until another visit to the 22 yielded the big prize. A loose ball from a lineout found its way into Ciaran Mangan's hands and his bullet cross-kick landed in the arms of Darragh Farrell to extend the lead to 8.

From the resulting restart, Armagh kicked it straight out and gave Rock a perfect chance to attack from a midfield scrum. A set-play move put Mangan away and he made no mistake 2 on 1 with the full-back, finding his support running scrum-half Jack Ringrose to dot down. That was to be all the scoring in the first half and Rock would turn to attack the Palace Wall with a 13 point lead.

The second half started similar to the first half, only this time Rock were on the receiving end of the penalties. To their credit, they held out the strong Armagh maul on a number of occasions and their was an air of deflation for the home side when Rock cleared their lines with their scoreboard unbreeched. If that brought deflation then the next few minutes brought utter dejection. Great rush defence by Ring and Farrell forced the home-side into an error. Farrell pounced on the loose ball and popped it up to his on-rushing full-back Colclough in open space on half-way.

The race was on, the speeds clocked wouldn't win prizes, but Cokes had enough in the legs to reach the Palace wall before the defence could catch him. Squires conversion from the sideline made it a 20 point lead and all that was left for Rock was to try and secure the elusive away bonus point.

Armagh managed to close the gap with a try of their own but with a few moments to go Rock struck. A scrum inside their half sent Squires up the middle, from the resulting ruck, Corkery found Farrell on the edge and he combined with his other winger Galvin to break into the Armagh half. Quick ball at the ruck got it back to Squires in midfield, one look up saw Cokes with the whole of Armagh City in front of him. Could they connect? Of course they could, the cross kick was all but perfect, the only issue was what way the try would be scored. Slide and catch? Let it bounce and risk it? Neither, one last test for the hamstring, stick out the right foot and trap it before gleefully falling over the line. The Palace grounds in shock and Rock were off to the Ball!! There was still time for Armagh to put some gloss on the scoreboard, but it was the visitors who left the happier, 27-12. A crucial bonus point lifts Rock up to 7th in the league, still sitting one point ahead of 9th. 4 games to go, 2 home and 2 away starting with another away trip this weekend to Garryowen.

All support needed on the run-in.

Photos from the match provided by City of Armagh RFC: Gallery