LETTERKENNY HITTING NEW HEIGHTS AHEAD OF CUP WEEKEND

On a wet and windy Saturday, Letterkenny welcomed Cavan to the Glebe. Cavan started off the brighter of the two teams when their inside centre showed some dazzling footwork to make a break from his own 22. After a scrambled defence, the ball was shipped wide where their number 8 was on hand to score in the corner. A good attempt by their outhalf sailed just wide and the score remained at 5-0. Letterkenny meanwhile, regrouped under the posts and restarted the game much more positively. Making his debut at scrum half, Liam Fogarty controlled the tempo of the Letterkenny attack quite well, through the instruction of his outhalf Peter Scott. After some strong carries by the pack, Ciaran Clarke broke through and dived under the posts for their first score of the day. Scott added the extra’s and Letterkenny led 7-5. Cavan made a strong reply once again through the footwork of their superb centre. Having rounded the challenge of Chris Peterson, he went on a mazy run down the left wing only to jump into the challenge of Letterkenny fullback Darragh Turley. The referee rightly awarded a penalty for jumping in to the tackle and Letterkenny relieved the pressure once again.
From the resulting lineout, Peter Scott showed some agility of his own and crashed through the defence for a nice individual try. He failed with the conversion attempt on this instance and the score remained 12-5 to Letterkenny. Soon after the restart, Cormac McMenamin made break and recycled the ball well for his scrum half. Fogarty was on hand to spread the ball wide for winger Sean Henry to get his first of the season. Scott added the extras and Letterkenny looked comfortable at 19-5.
Cavan having made a positive start to the game began to drop their heads as Letterkenny kept the pressure on for the remainder of the half. Further scores from Andrew Gibson and captain Dave Brown ensured Letterkenny had the bonus point at half time with a score line of 31-5.
The second half began, and Cavan looked to have had a dressing down at half time. Their resilience in the beginning of the second half was evident as they looked to hold off the relentless attack from Letterkenny.
As the game wore on though, Cavan grew tired and Letterkenny sensed an opportunity for some more scores.
A brace from John Anthony McFadden, the second of which showcased his finishing ability and a score for fullback Daragh Turley rounded off what was a clinical performance for Letterkenny in some tough conditions.
Coach Kevin Arenhold was pleased with the performance citing “hard work” and “unity” as key ingredients on the day. This was Letterkennys first complete performance of the year having showed glimpses of their capabilities in the earlier games of the season.
Final Score: Letterkenny 51-5 Cavan
With Ophir the visitors next Saturday in the first round of the Gordon West Cup, Letterkenny will look to push on and build on the performance from this weekend. Letterkenny have a long and proud history with the Gordon West and the players always feel privileged to take to the field on these special days. With yesterday’s performance and some more players to return to action, the squad is looking unbelievably competitive and each player will be pushing hard for selection on Saturday. Kick off is at 2.30 and all support would be greatly appreciated.