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Armagh welcomed Malone to the Palace Grounds on Saturday in near perfect conditions for their trademark expansive game. Armagh are currently top of their league so confidence was understandably high. Due to player unavailability and injury, there were several personnel changes from the previous week’s victory over CIYMS.
Chris Wallace returned to the back row alongside Steven Morton and Rory Hanna and Richard Morton returned at hooker alongside Jason McMahon and Brian Patterson. A new half back pairing of Andrew Winder and Sam Sheppard was called upon with Jonny Allen and Andrew Knipe forming a strong centre pairing.
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Armagh started the game brightly and immediately brought the game to their bigger opponents. Despite Malone’s size superiority, it was Armagh’s pack that scored first. Following a good catch in the lineout, the forwards mauled over from close range, with Richard Morton applying the final touchdown.
The conversion attempt drifted narrowly wide. Armagh continued to dominate the opening exchanges with some probing kicks from Sam Sheppard. Good field position and strong lineout play saw another pushover try this time Brian Patterson getting the try.
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Sam Sheppard Had A Great Game At Number 10 |
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Sam Sheppard kicked the conversion to bring the score to 12-0. Soon after, a kick over the top from full back Mark Laverty saw Chris Wallace score under the posts to extend Armagh’s lead.
If there has been a fault in Armagh’s recent performances then it has been complacency and following a period of scrappy play by the home side, Malone reduced the arrears with a penalty and a converted try.
To their credit Armagh responded almost immediately and crucially just before half time. A combination of quick ball and slick handling saw Phil McAllister score in the corner bringing the half time score to 24-10. Following the half time team talk, Armagh came out in the second half a more focussed team and immediately went on a scoring spree that continued through to the final whistle.
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Andrew Winder Scores Under The Posts
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As the heavier Malone pack tired, Armagh’s forwards laid the perfect platform for some fantastic flowing rugby. Phil McAllister continued his rich vein of form and added two more tries. This was matched by centre Jonny Allen.
Scrum half Andrew Winder got in on the act scoring under the posts following a good continuity by both backs and forwards. Fittingly Captain Mark Laverty scored the final touchdown. Sheppard kept the scoreboard ticking over converting 5 of Armagh’s 6 second half tries bringing the final score to 64-10.
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In what was a brilliant team performance, Steven Morton, Sam Sheppard and Phil McAllister gave fine individual performances.
Armagh played some of their best rugby of the season in front of a good crowd and despite having no fixture next weekend they will look forward to a Friday night home game on the 16 th November against Banbridge.
Team: M. Laverty, P. McAllister, J. Allen, A. Knipe, S. Cuttle, S. Sheppard, A. Winder, C. Wallace, S. Morton, R. Hanna, P. Hill, R. Shilladay, J. McMahon, R. Morton, B. Patterson.
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