Commanding performance as Longford advance in Provincial Towns Cup

This Round 1 clash of the Bank of Ireland Provincial Towns Cup was played on a dry but bitterly cold day in Kilcock, with a very spongy pitch making conditions difficult underfoot.

North Kildare started the brighter of the two sides and had Longford on the back foot early on. However, the Midlanders held firm, producing some outstanding defensive work and strong tackling to repel the early pressure.

On 15 minutes, Pádraig Boyle intercepted a North Kildare attack and kicked ahead for winger Oisin Peirson. With plenty still to do, Peirson showed great footwork to evade several tackles before touching down under the posts for Longford’s opening try. Jayden Boshoff added the conversion to make it 7–0.

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Buoyed by the score, Longford began to gain momentum. In the 22nd minute, Peirson again made a superb line-breaking run before offloading to Mark McHugh. McHugh stayed in touch and produced a clever behind-the-back pass to Ronan Collum, who crossed for Longford’s second try. Boshoff’s conversion struck the upright, leaving the score at 12–0.

North Kildare responded with renewed intensity and were unlucky not to capitalise when Longford nearly intercepted another pass, only for the referee to rule a deliberate knock-on. 

Boshoff was shown a yellow card, reducing Longford to 14 men for the final 10 minutes of the half. During this period, North Kildare threw everything at the visitors, but Longford’s defence was outstanding. Double tackles, last-ditch efforts, and huge commitment from every player ensured the home side remained scoreless. Longford went into the break leading 12–0.

The second half began with a yellow card for North Kildare just two minutes after the restart. Longford took full advantage, and following a superb penalty kick to the corner, the visitors secured clean line-out ball and moved it swiftly through the hands. Oisin Peirson finished off the move to score his second try of the match, with Boshoff converting to extend the lead to 19–0.

North Kildare refused to give up and continued to apply pressure, but Longford’s defensive effort was relentless. Massive hits came in from all areas of the field, with centres Paddy Duggan and Andrew Farrell particularly prominent. Every player put their body on the line to maintain the clean sheet.

In the 55th minute, Longford were awarded a penalty, and captain Alan Crowe opted to take the points. Boshoff made no mistake from the tee, pushing the score out to 22–0.

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The closing stages saw North Kildare camped inside the Longford 22, but once again they were met by what could only be described as a brick-wall defence. Longford were reduced to 14 men when David Geelan was sin-binned, and soon after Barry Sullivan joined him, leaving the visitors to finish the match with just 13 players. Despite the numerical advantage, North Kildare could not break through, and Longford held firm until the final whistle to secure a deserved 22–0 victory.

Choosing a Man of the Match was no easy task, with standout performances from Pádraig O’Farrell, Ronan Collum, Dylan Quinn, Liam Brady (off the bench), Andrew Beirne, Fred Davis, Alan Crowe, and Seamus McKeon. However, wing-forward Mark McHugh was voted Man of the Match for his tireless work rate and all-round contribution.

The Longford backs were also exceptional, with Ryan McHugh, Jayden Boshoff, Oisin Peirson, Paddy Duggan, Andrew Farrell, Fergal McGlade, and Pádraig Boyle all impressive in both attack and defence. Every replacement made a strong impact, with a special mention for Conor Mulligan on his First XV debut.

Longford 1st XV have next weekend off and back in Leinster League action against Sunday’s opponents in North Kildare on February 8.

Longford RFC: 1 Pádraig O’Farrell, 2 Ronan Collum, 3 Dylan Quinn, 4 Fred Davis, 5 Andrew Beirne, 6 Alan Crowe (capt.), 7 Mark McHugh, 8 Seamus McKeon, 9 Ryan McHugh, 10 Jayden Boshoff, 11 Fergal McGlade, 12 Paddy Duggan, 13 Andrew Farrell, 14 Oisin Peirson, 15 Pádraig Boyle

Replacements: 16 Barry Sullivan, 17 Liam Brady, 18 Ciaran Shannon, 19 John Geelan, 20 David Geelan, 21 Shane Farrell, 22 Jamie Byrne, 23 Conor Mulligan