Photo by Ken Redpath
City of Armagh 2nd XV
City of Armagh 2nd XV played their Banbridge counterparts at Rifle park on Saturday in the Second Round of the Junior Cup. Despite winning comfortably in the 2nd XV League a few weeks earlier, Armagh struggled to impose themselves during the first half when they had the advantage of a stiff breeze.
The City of Armagh 2nd XV scrum had Banbridge in reverse with several balls taken against the head, however the only reward was a penalty bt Mathew Steenson and an audacious drop goal by Simon Cuttle to give Armagh a halftime lead of 0-06
Matthew Steenson Kicks A Penalty for City of Armagh 2nd XV @ Banbridge On the restart, Banbridge came more into the game and started to pressurise the Armagh defence. On 60 minutes, some slack defence allowed Banbridge in for a score at the posts and with the simple conversion, put them into the lead 07-06. Armagh had difficulty establishing any territorial advantage and tried to play from too deep in their own half.
The game petered out with Banbridge accepting 2 penalty opportunities to bring the score up to 13-06. Armagh were very sluggish throughout out this game, a complete reverse from the earlier league game when they played some exciting rugby.
The loss of 2 players to yellow cards late in the game didn’t help the team’s cause – a game best forgotten and a disappointing exit in the junior cup. |
