BackSat 06 Feb 2016
MONAGHAN RFC
1st XV
Tries: M (7)Conversions: M (4)
43
10
Tries: J McLaughlinConversions: R MortimerPenalties: R Mortimer
Lerrterkenny 1st XV v Monoaghan 1st XV
Martin Mortimer1 Aug 2019 - 19:03
A Long Way For A Mud Bath
A much changed Letterkenny side travelled to Monaghan in hope of league points but their hosts had other ideas and secured a bonus point win to put some daylight between themselves and the bottom two sides.
Playing into a strong breeze and wintry showers Letterkenny found themselves deep in their own territory for most of the first half. Letterkenny had difficulty containing the strong running Monaghan pack and when in possession themselves were guilty of poor body positions in the contact area allowing themselves to be held up and gift Monaghan scrum possession. Monaghan drew first blood with a try from a rolling maul and shortly afterwards Sean Deery had to leave the field with a hamstring injury.
A second Monaghan penalty try soon followed from a 5m scrum where an infringement was deemed to prevent a try being scored.
Letterkenny replied with a fine try by James-Lee McLaughlin who gathered an overthrown lineout throw on the half way line and beat four defenders to touch down under the posts to make it an easy conversion by Ryan Mortimer.
Monaghan resumed control of the game with their third try from another forward rumble following unsuccessful attempts at clearing the Letterkenny lines. Monaghan secured a bonus point from another rolling maul from 20m out to leave the half time score 26-7. Just before the break Letterkenny finally started to take the game to their hosts and made inroads into the Monaghan 22 but a penalty awarded was unfortunately missed.
Early in the second half another soft try was conceded from a tap penalty after the Monaghan forwards were given too much time and space on the ball. Letterkenny managed to kick into the Monaghan half despite the breeze almost dying away and exerted some pressure winning a penalty which was converted by Mortimer. Soon after Rae Clarke had to leave the field with an injury and with only 13 men Letterkenny couldn’t make any inroads into the home side who at this stage had their tails up.
Further tries were scored by Monaghan in the closing minutes to flatter the scoreline but the bottom line was that the Letterkenny tackling and basic ball protection wasn’t up to the required standard on the day. A big improvement from the team overall is required for the Gordon West home quarter final on 20th February vs Newry.
Training continues on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-8.30pm. All are welcome.
Playing into a strong breeze and wintry showers Letterkenny found themselves deep in their own territory for most of the first half. Letterkenny had difficulty containing the strong running Monaghan pack and when in possession themselves were guilty of poor body positions in the contact area allowing themselves to be held up and gift Monaghan scrum possession. Monaghan drew first blood with a try from a rolling maul and shortly afterwards Sean Deery had to leave the field with a hamstring injury.
A second Monaghan penalty try soon followed from a 5m scrum where an infringement was deemed to prevent a try being scored.
Letterkenny replied with a fine try by James-Lee McLaughlin who gathered an overthrown lineout throw on the half way line and beat four defenders to touch down under the posts to make it an easy conversion by Ryan Mortimer.
Monaghan resumed control of the game with their third try from another forward rumble following unsuccessful attempts at clearing the Letterkenny lines. Monaghan secured a bonus point from another rolling maul from 20m out to leave the half time score 26-7. Just before the break Letterkenny finally started to take the game to their hosts and made inroads into the Monaghan 22 but a penalty awarded was unfortunately missed.
Early in the second half another soft try was conceded from a tap penalty after the Monaghan forwards were given too much time and space on the ball. Letterkenny managed to kick into the Monaghan half despite the breeze almost dying away and exerted some pressure winning a penalty which was converted by Mortimer. Soon after Rae Clarke had to leave the field with an injury and with only 13 men Letterkenny couldn’t make any inroads into the home side who at this stage had their tails up.
Further tries were scored by Monaghan in the closing minutes to flatter the scoreline but the bottom line was that the Letterkenny tackling and basic ball protection wasn’t up to the required standard on the day. A big improvement from the team overall is required for the Gordon West home quarter final on 20th February vs Newry.
Training continues on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-8.30pm. All are welcome.
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