Longford Rugby Club well beaten by awesome Athy in the Towns Cup

The Longford Senior Men’s 1st XV fine season came to an end on Saturday last against the juggernaut that is Athy RFC at the Semi-Final stage of this year's Leinster Provincial Towns Cup.

Athy RFC . . . 48     Longford RFC . . . 12

 Leinster’s oldest Cup competition is the most prized silverware in Junior Rugby and this year the Men in Black successfully navigated a pathway that saw them beat North Kildare, Mullingar and Newbridge to reach the competition's penultimate round. Indeed, it was 2019 when Longford last made it to the same stage when they faced Wicklow RFC.

Athy RFC are the current Provincial Towns Cup holders and play 2 divisions ahead of Longford in Leinster League 1A. They are a side littered with Leinster representative players and collectively one of the strongest sides in the province.

 Longford travelled with underdog confidence based on a season of big wins that has transformed the confidence of this steadily improving squad of players. However, the back to back 4-week game streak that seen them face Mullingar RFC twice, Coolmine RFC & Newbridge RFC in last weekend's quarter-final demanded a superhuman effort in week 5 

if they were to trouble Athy. Still missing multiple first team regulars due to injury, the squad had to dig deep to deliver a side to go toe to toe with the holders.

The game took off to a frenetic opening act with Athy showing early evidence of the danger that lurked around every corner Longford tried to explore. Storm Dave had also decided to join the proceedings, and a steadily increasing burst of gales made both handling and kicking out of  hand  tricky – with Athy probably enjoying any benefit the conditions offered up in the first half.

 Despite this, it was Longford who made the first impact on the scoreboard on 13 minutes from a tap n’go penalty 5 metres out from the Athy try line. It was loosehead prop Padraig O’Farrell who took the tap and ably assisted by Seamus McKeown barrelled over to get Longford into the lead at 5-0. 

The conversion was missed but Longford had made an important early statement. However, the opening score came with a heavy price as returning former Club Captain, scrumhalf Danny McHugh, injured his shoulder and had to be replaced. The Injury curse that has so severely hampered Longford over recent weeks had struck again.

Ryan McHugh slotted into Scrum Half and the backline was rejigged but Athy had been awakened. A blistering wave of clinical rugby was launched at Longford, who were scrambling to keep their defensive line intact. They held until the 22nd minute, when Athy pressure was rewarded by a converted try to move them 7-5 in front.

They were really starting to find their groove and got over for their second try on 31 minutes to move to 12-5 and added a further 3 points via a penalty kick on 35 minutes to stretch the lead to 15-5. Longford were then dealt a hammer blow on 36 minutes via a yellow card and had to dig deep especially at scrum time as the Athy pack began to really impose themselves. 

Longford were creaking and after several resets were in big danger of further sanction, but David Geelan fired up the engine room troops and remarkably Longford won a scrum penalty in the last play of the half to get out of jail and make it to the break still very much in the game.

There were however strong signals that Athy were about to let loose in the second half and a 16th man arrived in the form of Storm Dave who really began to whip his fury on proceedings below and if anything the conditions were even more difficult for Longford to deal with as the second half got underway.

 It took only 6 minutes for Athy to breach the Longford defence and move 22-5 in front. They cut through the Longford defence again on 57 minutes with a lethally effective try through their backs to edge further in front to 29-5.

Longford showed great heart and resilience despite Athy’s superiority and responded on 63 minutes with a try through Ryan McHugh which was converted by Jayden Boshoff to bring Longford back to 29-12. 

However, what followed was a brutally effective final 17 minutes where Athy got over for further scores on 67, 72 & 75 minutes to kill off Longford’s brave challenge and book themselves a deserved place to defend their title in a couple of weeks time against Tullow RFC who defeated Naas RFC in the other Semi-Final.

Athy showed the levels needed to compete at the very elite level and are on a far further forward point in their journey. They are a phenomenal team and deserve every credit for their performance on the day. Everyone at Longford RFC wishes them the best of luck as they defend their title in the Final. 

For Longford, this proved a game too far and although beaten well on the day the players gave everything they had and did the Club and County proud. Their journey this season has been a hugely positive one, reaching a Midland League Final, League Runners-Up and a Play-Off appearance as well as a Towns Cup Semi-Final. 

This has been in a reset year and the experience gained by the squad will stand to them hugely for next season. There is a healthy blend of youth and experience throughout the squad and they know that if they keep together on the same trajectory that the future will deliver better days as a reward for their efforts. 

The Coaching and Management ticket of Glenn Baskett, Ronan Keith, Matt Hanley, Jonathan Quinn, Vinny Connefry, Robbie Shaw and Jimmy Murphy behind the scenes deserve huge credit for the progress made this season and the positivity and unity that permeates the squad. 

The project continues but in the meantime the players deserve a well-earned rest after what has been a long season book ended with an attritional 5-week block of high intensity games. 

The final Player of the Match award of the season goes to one of Longford’s most consistent performers this season with another high intensity display of big hits and carries, especially when Longford needed it most in the face of the Athy onslaught. Openside flanker Mark McHugh deservedly takes the season's final honour after another terrific individual effort.

 Longford Squad v Athy RFC: 1 – P O’Farrell 2 – R Collum 3 – D Quinn  4 – D Geelan 5 – A Crowe (c) 6 – S McGuigan 7 – M McHugh 8 – S McKeown 9 – D McHugh 10 – J Boshoff 11 – J Byrne 12 – R McHugh 13 – A Farrell 14 – D Connolly 15 – C Mulligan.   

16 – B Sullivan 17 – L Brady 18 – F Davis 19 – D Rogan 20 – N Reilly 21 – S Farrell 22 – J O’Rourke 23 – D Ryan.