Armagh's young side suffer setback in Blackrock defeat

City of Armagh first xv have played Blackrock now on 5 occasions, winning only one game on Easter Saturday in 2018, when Armagh captained by Chris Colvin won convincingly 54-24. Last Saturday was a day that Armagh should have come home with 4 points but instead they only acquired a losing bonus point.

Armagh fielded a young enthusiastic side, giving Prop Taylor Gayle a starting position on a very difficult day to play decent rugby. For the first ten minutes they couldn't get their hands on the ball and were constantly pinned on their own goaline. Under so much pressure they conceded a soft try when winger Galvin squeezed through a hole in the defence. 7-0 to Blackrock.

It didn't help matters when the dominant Armagh scrum was penalised for boring in on their opponents and using the gale-force wind Blackrock went back to immediately camp on the Armagh line. The inevitable happened when prop Byrne drove over from close out to double their lead 14-0 to the home side.

Armagh settled down for the last 20 minutes of the half and started to play a bit of good rugby with the dangerous Fred Harris cutting through the Rock defence. It was difficult to kick the ball into the wind, so Armagh kept it tight for a while. This brought dividends with Thomas Dougan picking up from a strong scrum 5 metres out and going under the posts. Owen O'Kane probably thinking about an earlier penalty from 25 metres out which he struck well but was over the posts but blew back, took the conversion 10 metres out.

The Blackrock man , possibly charging early, prevented the conversion. 14-5 to the home side. Buoyed by this score, Armagh got into the match when a slick backs' move put Sam Cunningham in for a score after 34 minutes close to the corner. O'Kane converted magnificently to reduce the arrears. Armah now had their tails up but in their urgency to score again rushed off loads on a couple of occasions and knocked on.

Half time Blackrock 14 Armagh 12.

The wind unfortunately died down a bit in the second half and afforded the opportunity for the slick Blackrock backs to move the ball from side to side.

Armagh will learn a hard lesson that the wind, although in your favour, will not win the game for you. You need to be composed and play to your strengths. Despite the Blackrock team starting to give away penalties, Armagh could not capitalise on this and went further behind when winger Moloney went over in the corner after 55 minutes. With Taylor picking up a back injury and Niall Carville being rested, Armagh introduced 2 new props,Edward Shekete and James Gould. The Lisburn man, highly thought of only lasted 3 minutes when he was sin binned for a team yellow.

Down to 14 men Armagh kept trying but O'Kane had a long range penalty from 50 metres slide past the posts. Shortly afterwards, Shea O' Brien used his speed and agility to score Armagh's third try. Owen's conversion struck the upright and bounced away.

It was all Armagh now and they had ample opportunities to win the game. With Noah Bell now on for his first game this season and the whole subs bench used Armagh fought hard for the win. With Blackrock now down to 13 men, one would have expected Armagh to be totally dominant and win the game.

The Blackrock scramble defence held on though and even with a penalty in front of the posts Armagh decided to take the scrum to try and get their 4th try and a bonus point win. Hindsight is great but the team decided to not take the easier option of a penalty and three points but to go for the maximum 5 points.

This may be a decision that the team will regret at the end of the season. Blackrock then held on for the last few moments of the game to secure the win. There was absolutely no injury time played though which was surprising. Discipline from Armagh improved though.

Although many Armagh players, coaches and supporters were bitterly disappointed, credit has to be given to Blackrock for holding out. Played in horrible conditions, the game was a full-blooded affair with many putting their bodies on the line. Let us hope that a lesson will be learned to take your penalties and 3 points when they are on offer.

An interesting backdrop to the game was that the Treanor brothers might have faced each other in an AIL game, but Jack who moved to Blackrock in the summer was taken off at half time while his older brother Gerard came on for the last 20. Parents Gary and Michelle must have been proud.

Rugby results are important but for the Treanor family steeped in rugby, October 24th 2026 will be remembered by their whole family circle.