Armagh gain revenge in the First Trust Semi-Final

The dilemma facing Malone Head coach Paddy Armstrong prior to Saturday was how could he rest players with the 1sts, 2nds, and 3rd xv all involved in crucial Cup and league games. The decision was made to play most of the second xv pack on the 1sts with only regulars Matthew Dalton, Ben Halliday and Captain Ross Todd starting. Players given the opportunity included Ricky Greenwood and Scott Finlay in the front row with Lee Barlow alongside Matt Dalton in the second row and James McAllister and Stuart Doddington in the back row with Ross Todd. In the backs Connor Spence started at scrum half with Callum Smith returning at out half after being out injured for several weeks. Josh Pentland moved to 13 to play outside Nathan Brown. Changes were made on the wings with Mark O’Connor and Andy Bryans starting with Jack Owens at full back.
Malone only had three bench replacements with Hooker Dan Kerr covering the forwards and Shane Kelly and Michael Cartmill the backs.
Yes Malone wanted to be competitive in this match with a Senior Cup Final at the Kingspan stadium on Tuesday the 19th December the prize for both teams. The concern for the coaches was to avoid injuries with three crucial UBL games coming up as Malone look to maintain their position at the top of Div 2A.

City of Armagh after winning the Stevenson Shield for the first time last season have never won the Senior Cup and were clearly the hungrier of the two teams at the end of a very good contest well refereed by Jonathan Peak to make their first final.

From the kick off Armagh went offside for Mark O’Connor to convert an early penalty as this Malone team spread the ball wide to stretch the Armagh cover with Callum Smith, Nathan Brown and Josh Pentland very prominent supported by the hard running three quarters of Mark O’Connor, Andy Bryan’s and Jack Owens. A further infringement allowed O’Connor to increase the Malone lead to 6 – 0. In their first attack led by Armagh 7 Robert Whitten winger Ryan Purvis threatened the Malone defence only for the danger to be cleared.
It was another sweeping movement involving the Malone backs with 9. 10. 11. 14 and 15 with winger Mark O’Connor finishing off an excellent unconverted try in the corner to increase the Malone lead to 11 – 0 after 15 minutes. Armagh attacked from the kick off forcing a penalty with out half Cormac Fox’s attempt striking the post to be cleared by the visitors.

A key moment in the first half was when referee Jonathan Peak penalised Malone second row Matthew Dalton after a collision with the Armagh second row Josh McKinley at the subsequent lineout as the Armagh player fell awkwardly to the ground. With the home supporters encouraging the referee to issue a red card it was clear that the Armagh jumper had been left unprotected by his lifters. The impact of this poor decision was that Malone did not contest any of the remaining Armagh lineouts in the first half. Anyone who knows Matt Dalton is aware he is not a player easily displaced when it comes to the physical side of playing rugby.
Armagh capitalised on this decision as Malone were forced to make a significant change with Captain Ross Todd having to leave the field with a nasty facial injury that ended his participation in the match. This meant a reshuffle in the Malone back row with replacement hooker Dan Kerr moving to 6 and James McAllister switching to number 8. Errors started to creep into the Malone game as Armagh exerted pressure in the second quarter. Like Malone the Armagh backs Cormac Fox and Chris Colvin combined to create an opening that allowed their number 8 Neil Faloon to skip through some poor defence to touch down with Fox adding the points along with a penalty to reduce the Malone lead to 11- 10.
Malone did have another opportunity to score when Jack Owens made a break supported by O’Connor and Josh Pentland. From the breakdown Callum Smith, Nathan Brown and Jack Owens were held up as Armagh were able to clear their lines and leave Malone leading 11 – 10 at halftime.
The tempo of the game did not change at the beginning of the second half with both backlines looking to attack. It was another O’Connor penalty that increased the Malone lead to 14 – 10. Ten minutes into the second half Armagh struck a decisive blow when Malone were penalised one metre from their line beside the posts. The defence switched off with the alert Neil Faloon taking a quick penalty to touch down for a try with Fox converting to give the home side a 17 - 14 lead for the first time in the match.

What had a significant impact on the game at this stage was the introduction of the Armagh front row replacements on a tiring Malone front five with no replacements available to come off the bench for the visitors. Armagh sensed they were taking control of the game up front and despite Malone introducing Shane Kelly and Michael Cartmill off the bench for Connor Spence and Nathan Brown in the backs Armagh closed down the supply line to the Malone backs. As Malone tried to force the game they continued to hand possession and territory to the home side. It was particularly telling in the final quarter as the Armagh pack won three penalties at set pieces for Cormac Fox to stretch the Armagh lead to 26 – 14 with minutes left. He may have had a quiet game against Queens the previous week but in second row Matthew Dalton, Malone had the outstanding forward on the pitch. His never say attitude was deservedly rewarded when he carried strongly up towards the Armagh twenty two from the halfway line. When play was halted he duly got his hands on the ball to storm 20 metres to the line for a well deserved unconverted try to bring the score back to 26 – 19. Any thoughts of a converted try to force extra time were denied as Armagh cleared the ball of the pitch for referee Jonathan Peak to blow his whistle and end an entertaining game.
We wish Armagh well in the their first Senior Cup Final appearance where they will play Ballymena at the Kingspan stadium on Tuesday the 19th December.

There will be disappointment amongst the Malone squad that an opportunity was missed to make the final. Too many handling errors in the second half kept Armagh in the game with a tiring Malone front five having to play the full 80 mins.

Several players will have put their hands up for inclusion in the starting xv at Greystones next Sat with back to back games against Galway Corinthians on the 2nd and 9th December. With British and Irish Cup commitments for Ulster A on the weekends of the 9th and 16th December the Malone coaches will have been pleased with the efforts of several of the second xv forwards who will play a crucial role in these three up and coming UBL games.
James McAllister and Stuart Doddington put in a big shift along with Ricky Greenwood and Scott Finlay in the front row. Once again Mark O’Connor made another statement for inclusion with his running and accurate kicking pinning Armagh deep in their own half. Backs coach Josh Pentland will have been pleased with the opportunity to look at several different combinations with the returning Callum Smith not looking like a player who had not played for several weeks as he continuously probed the Armagh defence to create openings for his backs. What will have disappointed Josh Pentland is the handling errors and inability of his backs to hold on to and look after the ball in good attacking positions.

Despite everything a very commendable performance by the team in particular the forwards.

My man of the match would have to go to Ulster Academy and Malone second row Matthew Dalton who never gave up for the 80 mins. You could see how much it hurt him to lose this match. His try at the end is a reflection of the potential future he has in the game. Well done Matthew.

Malone team: 1. Ben Halliday, 2. Scott Finlay, 3. Ricky Greenwood, 4. Matthew Dalton, 5. Lee Barlow, 6. James McAllister 7. Stuart Doddington, 8. Ross Todd (Captain), 9. Connor Spence, 10. Callum Smith, 11. Andy Bryan’s, 12. Nathan Brown, 13. Josh Pentland, 14. Mark O’Connor, 15. Jack Owens, 16. Dan Kerr, 17. Michael Cartmill, 18. Shane Kelly.

City of Armagh: 1. Philip Matthews, 2. Michael Hoey, 3. Daryl Morton, 4. Josh McKinley, 5. Stephen Morton, 6. James Morton, 7. Robert Whitten, 8. Neil Faloon, 9. Harry Doyle, 10. Cormac Fox, 11. Chris Cousens, 12. Johnny Pollock, 13. Chris Colvin. 14. Ryan Purvis, 15. Timmy McNeice. 16. Andrew Smyth, 17. Paul Mullan, 18. Barry Finn, 19. Thomas Campbell, 20. Evan Crummie.