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| Armagh (24) vs Cill Dara (03) |
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24th November 2009
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A rain sodden pitch greeted the visitors from Kildare for this hotly awaited All Ireland Junior Cup fixture, but Armagh were not to be defeated on home turf.
From early on the solid scrum and excellent line out ball from Armagh catapulted them to the opposition's 22. And there they remained, despite the pressure from Cill Dara defence, until with the help of the rolling ruck, Joe Clarke pushed over for the first points of the day.
With the wind in his face Adam Gowing stepped up to make the try the full seven points, and despite the adverse conditions the early spoils went to Armagh.
With a seven point disadvantage Cill Dara came back fighting and put the home side on the back foot. A small mistake from Armagh gave Cill Dara a chance on the half way line, but although the Cill Dara kicker had the ball on shot it did not have the distance.
But Cill Dara did not let this affect them and came back minutes later with another chance at the posts. This time the distance was not an obstacle and Cill Dara clawed back some of the deficit to 07-03.
Armagh upped their work rate in the face of the pressure from the visitors and after a shaky start on slippy ground in the scrums, they literally found their feet.
A penalty decision for Armagh was pointed quickly at the posts and in the face of ever stronger winds Gowing showed his skills and the scoreboard quickly added on three points in Armagh's favour.
Again from the restart Cill Dara applied pressure but the excellent passing of the ball from the back line to the wings lead and brilliant chip and chase from Eddie Irwin to see him round the posts for a spectacular try. Again Gowing stepped up to the mark and delivered an excellent kick to make the score line 17-03.
The second half saw excellent ball won and lost by both sides but Armagh never lost their composure in the face of an advancing Cill Dara side. But after a missed penalty the 22 drop was excellently won by the home side.
Johnny Steenson then stepped up and ran with the ball to gain much needed yards. After reorganising the back line Johnny Allen picked up the ball and crossed the line to make the score a very healthy 22-03. With another perfect conversion kick from Gowing the score totalled 24-03.
But Cill Dara then upped their work rate and pushed the orchard men back down to their own 10m. With hard tackles coming in from both sides it wasn't long before the spectators were unfortunatley treated to seeing a yellow card mar a great game.
Armagh then proved why they are on top form with their defensive work and keep out the visitors. With this win in the All Ireland Junior Cup Armagh now have a break in this competition until the semi final in January against last year's winners Tullamore.
But Armagh do not get break from the rest of the competitions that they face and this Saturday sees them travel to Limavady |
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