Letterkenny RFC have too much for Lurgan in Qualifier 3 League

BACK AT THE home ground of Dave Gallaher Park, Letterkenny welcomed Lurgan in a Qualifier 3 League encounter on a day when Mary Poppins would have kept her brolly well closed.

Letterkenny had narrowly won the previous league fixture 20-22 and knew a good performance was required.

Letterkenny elected to play into the wind and get the hard work over first. Adapting better to the conditions early on Letterkenny’s set piece was a dominant factor, particularly in the scrum where the upper hand was ignored by the referee and the visitors escaped penalties which would have set the platform for a route.

However the hard work of the Letterkenny front row of Rae Clark, Shaun McGill and Captain Christopher Digimas enabled the home team to stay on the front foot and gave returning scrum half Eoghan O’Riain an armchair ride.

Conor Dunleavy had another good day at the office and after a series of powerful assaults on the Lurgan line took a quick penalty and barrelled over for an unconverted try.

It was always going to be a day for the men up front but when the opportunities came O’Riain set out-half Ryan Mortimer’s back line alight and the Letterkenny 10 and centre John Anthony McFadden caused havoc to the men from Co Armagh.

A couple of changes from recent weeks saw Ladi Yuno partnering McFadden in the centre with Gareth Gavin pulling on the 15 shirt.

1	Limavady	16	16	0	0	78
2	U.U.C	15	11	0	4	53
3	P.S.N.I	15	11	0	4	51
4	Ophir	15	7	0	8	35
5	Newry	13	7	0	6	34
6	Letterkenny	14	7	0	7	31
7	Holywood	13	6	0	7	30
8	Lurgan	15	6	1	8	30
9	B.H.S FP	12	5	2	5	30
10	Monaghan	15	4	0	11	20
11	Strabane	15	3	0	12	14
12	Civil Service	16	2	1	13	12

One of Letterkenny’s strengths is the ability to implement the driving maul and one excellent passage of play saw McGill crash over the line from the back of one such maul for Mortimer to convert.

The visitors reacted well to the challenge and their fly-half utilised both feet and hands well to enable his backs to get into the game. Letterkenny switched off when they should have powered on but didn’t and it only failed to be turned into Lurgan points by unforced errors and last gasp tackling.

Just before half time Lurgan got onto the score sheet when they worked the ball wide, with some nifty interplay, to touch down in the corner for an unconverted try.

Leading 12-5 at the break Coach Colin Farrell’s boys rallied and, playing with the wind, set about their task with a little more conviction. The back-row of Garry Canning, Michael Foy and Gareth McGill all made ground with bullocking carries and attack at the break-down ensured cleaner ball for the backs.

The second row of Dunleavy and Ben Mortimer put in numerous trade mark hits, carried well, and mid-way through the second half Mortimer muscled away three defenders to crash over and score for his younger brother to add the extra two points.

The home team ought to have twisted the knife and get the try bonus point but Lurgan never gave up and what they lacked in attack they made up for in defence.

The 1st XV are away to Monaghan on Saturday and could move to third in the table with a good win whilst the 2nds are away to Londonderry YM.

Letterkenny: Ray Clark, Shaun McGill, Christopher Digimas (Cpt.), Ben Mortimer, Conor Dunleavy, Michael Foy, James Lee McLaughlin, Gareth McGill, Eoghan O’Riain, Ryan Mortimer, Stephen Divine, John Anthony McFadden, Ladi Yuno, James Lee McLaughlin, Gareth Gavin.

Letterkenny Rugby Club in association with main sponsors, Kelly’s Toyota, Port Road, Letterkenny