Letterkenny 2nds made the difficult trip away to face Limavady 3rds in what is always one of the most difficult encounters of the season. With a five of the Kenny players making their rugby debuts it was always going to be tough against the experience of the Limavady team. From kick off Kenny put on the pressure with the pack driving up the middle gaining ground with each try. The pressure paid off after 10 minutes when Kenny got the ball to the backs and centre Ladi Yuno handed off 3 defenders to break through for a try. From that point though Kenny were on the defensive for the rest of the half with Limavady using their strong back line to break through and gain yards. They succeeded in getting 3 tries one of which was converted before the half time whistle was blown. Half time score Limavady 17- Letterkenny 5.
The Letterkenny men came back out in the 2nd half determined not to let this game slip away. They took up where they started by continually crashing through the Vady defence dragging in defenders before getting the ball to one of the new recruits on the wing Paul McLoughlin who ran in a try to underneath the posts. A conversion from out half Stephen Robinson gave Kenny a major lift and they knew they were back in the game. Another superb break shortly after this saw prop Morris run 3 quarters of the pitch fending off 4 Limavady players along the way before been taken down 5 meters from the try line. This pressure continued for Kenny before up stepped Liam ‘the beast’ McLoughlin for 2 tries in succession beneath the posts beating multiple defenders along the way. Both of these were converted by Robinson. But Limavady weren’t about to give up. They kept Kenny on the defensive for the final 10 minutes and with 4 minutes to go were awarded with a try on the wing. A missed conversion left it with 4 points between the teams and 3 minutes to go. From the restart Limavady again drove up the middle. The Kenny defence was superb and held the line before a penalty was awarded on the 5 meter line with 30 seconds on the clock. Limavady took a quick penalty giving the ball to a big 2nd row who powered over the line but was held up by tackler Lawless and he was unable to ground the ball. Time was up after that play and there was some relief and a lot of battered bodies after a great display from Kenny. Final score Limavady 22 – Letterkenny 26.