I continued my day trip to the Orchard County by visiting City of Armagh RFC for a couple of games.
I caught the first half of the eagerly anticipated 2nd XV League match between City of Armagh IIs and Instonian IIs.
Unfortunately the conditions made this game more of a battle of attrition than the free flowing rugby specticle I was anticipating.
In a game which largely lurched from scrum to lineout it was Armagh who took the lead after seven minutes after working some space out on the left for Adam Hegarty to cross unopposed. Brayden Laing converted from the touch line to make it 7-0.
Seven minutes later a series of penalties put Instonians in the Armagh 22 and after a couple of attempts out half Josh Eagleson battled over in the corner. Jonathon Milliken added the extras to tie the game 7 – 7.
Armagh looked to have the bulk of territory in the remainder of the half but it truth it was all a bit of a grind in the middle of the park a the heavy rain continued to fall.
Instonians started to ratchet things up towards the end of the half and a second period of pressure in the Armagh red zone ended with Jack Patterson crashing over, with an assist from Alan Whitten. Milliken added the conversion to take it to 7 – 14 at half time.
I had to leave at the break to catch my second match at the club but Armagh went on to win 21 – 14 thanks to second half tries from Sam Montgomery and Eoin O’Hagan, both converted by Laing.
Match Gallery
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