Ruthless Longford Rugby Club cruise to emphatic win over Edenderry

Longford RFC . . . 38    Edenderry RFC . . . 12 

Mark Quinn reporting from Longford Rugby Club 

Longford Senior Men’s 1st XV welcomed Edenderry RFC on Sunday last as they aimed to make it 5 successive league victories and continue their impressive winning streak as they approach the end of this season’s League campaign. 

This is never an easy fixture and the Offaly men arrived with their own motivation given their precarious position towards the base of the table. Needing a result to take off pressure of their own, there was plenty at stake as the sides took to the pitch in bitterly cold and wet conditions.

As has been a welcome recent trait, it was Longford who shot out of the blocks from the first whistle and had the visitors scrambling to stem the early onslaught.

 After only 3 minutes, it was the ever-physical Longford flanker Kevin Rodgers who opened the scoring with a direct, hard carry off a lineout maul to burst through for the game’s opening try. Jayden Boshoff converted, and the home side were off to the best possible start. Scoreboard 7-0 to Longford. 

The tempo didn’t let up however, and Longford relaunched immediately at Edenderry. 

Fred Davis brilliantly stole an Edenderry lineout 10 metres inside the Longford half which was immediately moved wide to Kevin Rodgers who again carried hard into contact, making several crucial metres. His back-row partner in crime Kieran O’Gorman was on hand at the ensuing breakdown and he opportunistically picked and went himself from the halfway line, gaining another crucial territorial gain before being taken down at the Edenderry 22. 

Longford moved the ball quickly with Boshoff feeding the omnipresent Rodgers who this time appeared in the wide channel. He looped a superb pass out to Kyle Kenny on the wing who still had plenty to do. 

With a clever sidestep and full throttle gear shift, he accelerated up the line to get in for Longford’s 2nd try of the game which Boshoff converted. 14-0 to Longford and only 7 minutes on the clock.

Edenderry were shell shocked and could not deal with the early dominance of the Men in Black. Indeed, it was the home side who further enhanced their position on 20 minutes after another excellent phase of total rugby. 

From a clean lineout take via Fred Davis, it was Kevin Rodgers who carried hard yet again at the Edenderry line - making big yardage. 

The ball was crisply recycled and sent wide through the backs. Ryan McHugh fed Ronan Bleakley on the other wing just as the move approached the Edenderry 22, with the Longford man taking the ball at full pace.

 Also with plenty to do and not to be outdone by Kyle Kenny’s earlier effort, he also showed deft footwork to jink in at the clubhouse side and bag Longford’s 3rd try of the contest which Boshoff again converted. 21-0 to Longford.

This was devastating stuff from the home side and further evidence if it was even needed of the talent and potential this Longford team is now showing.

 To close off what was a brutally efficient first half, Longford scored their 4th try of the day on 28 minutes when inform Fred Davis bagged an opportunistic solo effort. 

Having fully contested a lineout, he landed back to earth and immediately reacted to a loose tap back from Edenderry. Bursting onto the loose ball, Davis gladly gathered possession and threw a sidestep of his own before touching down. Boshoff converted and Longford led 28-0 which is how it finished to half-time. 

Rampant – Relentless – Ruthless, this Longford side displayed all 3 of the golden traits in a devastating opening half of superb rugby.

Credit must go to Edenderry who reacted after a heated half time team talk. They had to get into the game somehow and this they did on 46 minutes when their physical Scrum Half sold a dummy from the base of an attacking ruck and held off the Longford tackle attempts to go in under the posts for their opening score which they converted to get them on the board. Scoreboard 28-7 to Longford.

 It was the Offaly side who again struck next on 51 minutes when their forwards took a quick tap n’go penalty from 5 metres out and made it through for their 2nd try. The conversion however was missed with the scoreboard moving to 28-12 in favour of Longford. 

The home side needed to step up the heat to eradicate any element of Edenderry momentum and to their credit they did with a return to the phase play that was evident in the first half.

 Indeed, but for some bad luck and unforced handling errors at crucial points the scores should have started coming again sooner than the 60th minute when Longford scored next. 

This time Longford secured possession from an Edenderry clearance to set up a counterattack. The ball was moved effortlessly through backs and forwards before being recycled to Jayden Boshoff at Out Half. He brilliantly stepped inside the  Edenderry defence and with 2 jinking sidesteps made it all the way into their 22 before a cheeky chip to his right into space.

 Ronan Bleakley, who started the counterattack, was on hand to touch down the ball just before it rolled over the dead ball line and give Longford their 5th try of the day. The scoreboard moved to 33-12 in favour of Longford.

Longford weren’t done yet and closed the game out in the final minute of the contest. After multiple phases through the forwards on the Edenderry line, scrumhalf Robbie Shaw fed the ball wide to Ryan McHugh who expertly fixed the last defenders to put winger Kyle Kenny in at the corner for his second, and Longford’s sixth, try of the day.

The scoreboard moved to 38-12 and this is how matters finished as the full-time whistle sounded.

This was a very well-rounded display from Longford and will give the squad great encouragement as they approach the final phase of the season. 

Up front there were big contributions from Seamus McKeown, Dylan Quinn, Fred Davis, Kieran O’Gorman and captain Alan Crowe. Best of the pack however was Kevin Rodgers who put in a massive shift and really set the tempo for the win that followed. 

Across the backs, the standard is getting better in every game with standout contributions from Jayden Boshoff, Kyle Kenny and Ronan Bleakley. 

However, the man that knitted it all together was full back Ryan McHugh who was everywhere both in attack and defence in a superb Man of the Match performance.

Longford complete their final league fixture away to New Ross next Sunday in what promises to be a cracker. Both sides are evenly matched - Longford sitting 3rd (40 points) & New Ross 4th (38 points). It is important that Longford retain recent momentum and finish the league strongly ahead of the next stage of the Provincial Towns Cup away to Carlow RFC on March 9th.

Longford  take on New Ross RFC away on Sunday next, 23rd February in the 14th and final Round of this season's Leinster League. All travelling support greatly welcomed and  appreciated.

Longford Squad v Edenderry RFC: 1 – S McKeown 2 – B Sullivan  3 – D Quinn 4 – G Mullarkey 5 – F Davis 6 – K Rodgers 7 – K O’Gorman 8 – A Crowe (c) 9 – R Shaw 10 – J Boshoff 11 – R Bleakley 12 – D O’Brien 13 – J McGowan 14 – K Kenny 15 – R McHugh 16 – R Collum  17 – L Brady 18 – A Beirne 19 – C Craig 20 – P Boyle