Longford Rugby Club suffer another setback in relegation battle

De La Salle Palmerstown RFC . . . 18   Longford RFC . . . 13

Longford RFC made the trip to Kilternan on the foothills of the Dublin Mountains on Sunday last to take on De La Salle Palmerstown in a crucial bottom of the table fixture in this season's Leinster League. 

Longford recorded their only win of the League season so far on the opening day against the same opposition and on paper at least this was one the Men in Black would have been targeting for a repeat result. 

 It was a cold and misty December afternoon that welcomed the sides on to the pitch for what promised to be an attritional battle. 

The visitors had to reshuffle their playing deck and positional options significantly from last weekend’s fixture due to a mixture of injuries and player unavailability. This resulted in a new look squad with several new faces ready and eager to make an impression.

The game got underway and the sides locked horns from the off with an immediate exchange of physical collisions that set the tempo for the remainder of the fixture. 

Longford started brightly and displayed a cohesion between forward and backs that worked the DLSP defence hard – the visitors keeping their shape well and committing fully to the contact area. 

However, it was the Achilles heel of the side this season – the lineout – that again stole the platform.  Longford needed to make proper inroads into the DLSP half. Possession out of touch was proving a big challenge and letting the hosts off the hook every time Longford had the chance to build momentum.

On 8 minutes the first card of the day was shown to the DLSP winger who was sent to the bin after a mid-air collision with the flying Cormac Casey who chased the ball from a Ryan McHugh chip through. 

Longford drove deep into the DLSP 22 and with an extra man were in a great position to capitalise on the advantage. But the lineout creaked and again the hosts were afforded an easy exit.

 Indeed it was the DLSP lineout that set the platform for the opening score of the match on 15 minutes when after a perfectly executed take, the DLSP forwards set a driving maul at the Longford line that was just held up. 

After several phases of close pick and go’s through their forwards, DLSP moved the ball left through the backs. Eventually their winger took a fortunate pass from a ricochet that landed in his hands to get in in the corner. The try went unconverted, but the hosts had taken a 5-0 lead despite being a man down.

To their credit, Longford came straight back and were awarded a penalty on 22 minutes which Outhalf Ryan McHugh landed to bring the scoreboard to 5-3. 

However, it was the hosts who hit next – another well executed lineout followed by a driving maul that rumbled over for an unconverted try to give the hosts a 10-3 lead. 

Longford were then handed a hammer blow on 33 minutes when second row Josefa Rokotakala was red carded for what the referee deemed a shoulder to head contact on an attacking DLSP forward. 

Those in attendance were stunned as the incident did not seem to be at the higher end of foul play, more a close contact exchange and certainly without any malintent. 

However, the decision was made, and Longford now had to really dig deep and show character to try and salvage something from a game that they had contributed fully to up to that point, but with scant reward. 

Matters then got worse for the visitors when on 36 minutes DLSP moved the ball wide to their right winger who bagged the hosts 3rd try of the day which went unconverted. 

Longford were on the ropes, 15-3 down in a matter of minutes and with a mountain to climb. To their huge credit, and a sign of a new steely core that has been developing over recent matches, the team regrouped and resolutely fought to get back into the DLSP danger zone. 

The Longford pressure resulted in the home side’s second yellow card of the day for professional foul play. With literally the final minutes of the first half left, Longford launched forward with several hard carries at the DLSP line. 

The ball was eventually spun wide and Mark McHugh executed a tidy palm pass to the again impressive Alan Crowe who got over the line in the corner to give Longford a much deserved try. 

Ryan McHugh slotted a brilliant conversion from the touchline to bring the scoreboard to 15-10 at the break – a fairer reflection of Longford’s efforts.

The second half proved to be a case study in dogged resilience despite the odds given the red card disadvantage absorbed by Longford in the first half. Up front there were big performances from Seamus McKeown, Liam Brady, Eoin Murtagh and Fred Davis.

 Mark McHugh was his typically omnipresent self throughout the game, but it was Alan Crowe and John Geelan who led the fight most aggressively. In defence and attack, both players set the example for others to follow and deserve huge credit for their efforts.

 In the backs there were big performances from Robbie Shaw, Cormac Casey and Killian Rawle who never stopped trying to generate go forward ball. But it was Ryan McHugh, deputising at Out Half, who stole the show with a relentless display of aggression and ingenuity on the ball in an overall Man of the Match performance.

Longford had to weather many phases of DLSP attack and scrambled manfully in keeping the bonus point 4th try away from the hosts. Agonisingly, it was DLSP who closed the game on 75 minutes with a penalty to move the scoreboard to 18-10 and at this gap deny Longford a potential losing bonus point.

But as is the way with this team, they dug in for one last assault that was rewarded in the 77th minute with a penalty of their own which Ryan McHugh again slotted to bring the losing bonus point back into the visitors possession.

Alas, this was how it ended. Longford displayed huge bravery in this fixture and despite the odds had DLSP scrambling throughout what was a true, old school tussle that could have gone either way.

Longford will regret the Red Card and overall lineout execution throughout the game – both of which were the ultimate factors that denied what was a very achievable away day victory.

The loss is a big one however with games now running out. There is a break now until the new year after which Longford have 6 remaining fixtures to try and repeat the heroics of last season’s great escape. On the evidence of this performance, however, never say never . . . 

Longford Squad v De La Salle Palmerstown RFC: 1 – S McKeown 2 – A Crowe 3 – L Brady 4 – J Rokotakala 5 – J Geelan 6 – F Davis  7 – M McHugh 8 – E Murtagh 9 – R Shaw 10 – R McHugh 11 – K Rawle  12 – A Farrell 13 – D Connolly 14 – C Casey 15 – I McCormack 16 – R Collum 17 –  Lolu Adejinmi 18 – B Hanley 19 – C Craig 20 – P Gill.