Longford Rugby Club find the going too tough against league leaders Coolmine

Longford Senior Men’s First XV entered Round 7 of this season’s Leinster League campaign looking to dent league leaders Coolmine unbeaten start to the season. 

Travelling to Castleknock in Dublin on Sunday, the squad were in determined mood and quietly confident as the top two sides in the division finally met head on. In dry but bitterly cold conditions, the sides took to the field with all to play for.

Coolmine RFC . . . 34     Longford RFC . . . 15

Longford took off from the start with serious intent and had Coolmine on the back foot immediately. The Men in Black swarmed forward towards the Coolmine try line and after only 3 minutes were rewarded for their efforts when Padraig O’Farrell picked from close range to barge over and get the game's opening try. Outhalf Jayden Boshoff converted and Longford were off to the perfect start, 7-0. Coolmine hit back however on 10 minutes with a try of their own that went unconverted moving the scoreboard to 7-5. 

But it was Longford who upped the ante and launched back into the Coolmine danger zone. The Longford pack was dominating, both in open and set play with a ferocious intensity. 

These efforts were further rewarded on 18 minutes after another series of close in pick n go’s from the forwards, the ball moved quickly wide for winger Shane Farrell to dart in at the corner for Longford’s second try of the contest. The difficult conversion was missed but Longford had deservedly retaken the lead at 12-5.

The crowd in attendance was being treated to a cracker and it was the hosts who landed the next blow only 6 minutes later when Coolmine again came roaring back at Longford and bagged their second try of the day which was also unconverted. 12-12 after only 24 minutes in a blistering opening quarter of the match.

 From here Longford really set the tempo and were bossing the battle of the packs, especially in the scrum where Longford were awarded numerous penalties against a Coolmine pack that was clearly rattled. 

Indeed, such dominance really should have been better rewarded and Longford came close on several occasions to getting over for their third of the day but were held out by a determined Coolmine defence.

 Longford did however take 3 points via a penalty on 32 minutes to re-establish the lead at 15-12. But it will be this phase of the game that will frustrate Longford when reviewing the tape this week as 2 kickable penalties were declined for resets that did not bear fruit. 

A potential 21-12 halftime lead was forfeited and although they went in at the break with the 15-12 lead, it was realistically too fine a margin and not reflective of the efforts put in during an overall very impressive first half showing.

To their credit Longford started the second half strongly and were again particularly dominant at scrum time where Coolmine were penalised again and again, but with no yellow card sanction which would have been a worthy return for Longford’s efforts.

 Bizarrely however it was this dominance that was somehow turned against Longford early in the second half when another dominant Longford scrum was penalised by the referee for Longford not using the ball, even though they were inching forward. 

From this Coolmine escaped with a big territory gain and never really looked back. To their credit, they sensed that they needed to turn the Longford momentum and they did this ruthlessly. On 52 minutes they landed a converted try to take the lead for the first time in the match, 19-15.

Longford were on the back foot with Coolmine ruthlessly landing another try on 58 minutes to stretch the lead to 24-15. The game was still there with over 20 minutes to play, Longford needed to make the next impression and get back to within a score. 

Longford tried valiantly for the next 15 minutes but just couldn’t break what was a hugely physical Coolmine defensive line. Frustration was also creeping in and Longford were punished via 2 yellow cards with only 5 minutes to go. 

This was decisive as Coolmine smelt blood and ruthlessly capitalised on their 2 extra player advantage with 2 further tries in the closing minutes to kill off what was for the majority a very brave Longford challenge. 

The game finished 34-15 to Coolmine who have to be given full credit for what was a very dominant second half performance. They showed emphatically in the end why they are the team to beat this season.

The final scoreboard was perhaps harsh on Longford who contributed fully to a thunderous game of rugby. Longford will rue not securing more points for their efforts, especially from a first half that they largely controlled. 

The scrum dominance is a hugely encouraging element to take away from this fixture and there will be better days for this group as the league season reaches the halfway point.

 Longford still sit in 2nd place in the League table and can control their own destiny in terms of at a minimum securing a play off place for promotion come the end of the campaign. A lot of rugby still to play but a more ruthless game plan execution will be needed in the remaining fixtures to maximise the points available.

Standout performers on the day were the Longford front row of Padraig O’Farrell, Ronan Collum and Dylan Quinn with Liam Brady also adding to the efforts later in the game. Fred Davis had a fine outing in the lineout and was Longford’s biggest threat out of touch.

Seamus McKeown and Mark McHugh had big games in the loose with captain Alan Crowe and John Geelan also showing for big carries throughout a bruising encounter. 

In the backs, RyanMcHugh battled aggressively at scrumhalf. Jayden Boshoff at 10 was always dangerous and gave everything to try and edge Longford forward.

 Centres Paddy Duggan and Andrew Farrell carried hard through the middle all game. 

But it was Hooker Ronan Collum who deservedly took the  player of the match award after a superb individual showing, driving Longford forward at the coalface and dynamic in the loose.

Longford take to the road again next Sunday for Round 8 of the Leinster League when they travel to Newbridge RFC in Co. Kildare. All traveling support is greatly appreciated.

Longford Squad v Coolmine RFC: 1 – P O’Farrell 2 – R Collum 3 – D Quinn 4 – F Davis 5 – J Geelan 6 – A Crowe (c) 7 – M McHugh 8 – S McKeown 9 – RMcHugh 10 – J Boshoff 11 – S Farrell 12 – P Duggan 13 – A Farrell 14 – R Farrell 15 – P O’Boyle 16 – B Sullivan 17 – L Brady 18 – N Reilly 19 – D Geelan 20 – F McGlade.