City of Armagh 45 Sundays Well 7
CITY of Armagh were in unstoppable form on Saturday as they notched up a superb 45-7 win against Sundays Well at the Palace Grounds.
Their thirst for dominance could not be quenched and, even though the Well laid siege several times on the Armagh 22, this did little in helping to keep the Cork opposition afloat.
In fact, Sundays Well found themselves down 23-0 by the half-time interval and only managed to scrape the slightest modicum of respecability by putting some points on the card in the dying minutes.
A new-found confidence and positive playing saw try after try rain down on the visitors.Only two minutes in and Armagh had them pinned in the right corner.
This led to a penalty when a Sundays Well player failed to release an Armagh forward after a tackle. Armagh’s newly acquired out-half, Dylan Ferreira, stepped up to attempt the difficult kick, but the Kiwi’s skill became evident as he centred the ball between the posts. This was repeated 15 minutes later from a similar spot to open out the score to 6-0.
Armagh continued to pressurise the visitors until Andy Smyth forced his way over the line and, yet again, the conversion was on target.
Just 10 minutes later James Morton announced his return to the side after his ankle injury with a try left of the posts. Again, Ferreira converted to put the score up to 20-0. Just before the break that same man landed another penalty to bring the score to 23-0 at half time.
Shortly after the restart, Richard Reaney demonstrated his speed and skill by breaking through the Sundays’ defence inside the Armagh half and touching down in the left corner. Unfortunately, the conversion went left of the posts. Less than ten minutes later the Armagh full-back touched down in the corner. While this try was important, it had earned Armagh the vital bonus point, which will prove crucial before the season ends.
To add to Sundays Well’s troubles, the conversion was on target to bring the score up to 35-0. Before the end of the game Armagh scored two further tries.
Both Josh Morton and Mark Riddell touched down to finish the home score at 45-0. Sundays Well were, by this stage, beginning to flag, but they never gave up and pure resolution led them to score somewhat of a consolation try when their centre, O’Mahony, touched down, and out-half O’Riordan converted on the stroke of full time.
This Saturday, October 13, City of Armagh Firsts are at home to City of Derry, in the Ulster League, the Thirds are away to Lurgan Seconds and Fourths away to Ballyshannon. All kick-off at 2.30pm. The Seconds have no fixture.
