Armoy RFC miss out on 40th anniversary glory

With tensions riding high, Armoy played some of the best rugby in recent years against a well drilled and noticeably bigger team.

The Limepark men dominated the territory but a mixture of nerves and stages of being over zealous meant two real try scoring opportunities were missed which would have taken the game in a different momentum. An evenly contested battle took both teams into half time three points each with Armoy points coming from the boot of Craig Nesbitt.

In the second half Donaghadee took advantage of the wind and pinned the Armoy team into their own twenty two and were able to capitalise on a few overlaps and also a penalty to go to 18-3 up.

Winger Gordon McConaghie was given the ball in the dying moments to run most of the pitch for a deserved consolation try, converted by Barry Kelly. The match concluded 18-10 to Donaghadee.

Although the result was disappointing, many positives can be taken from a great hard fought match.

Mark Donald, Armoy captain said:“The team put their bodies on the line and everyone of them gave 100%, I couldn’t have asked for more and I’m proud of our performance.

“To reach an Ulster final is a massive achievement for our small club and the amount of support that we had was testament to that. I would like to thank everyone for coming to cheer us on.

“I’d also like to thank all players, committee members and supporters for everything this season and I look forward to seeing Armoy build on this next year.”

A special mention must go to Tom Christie who after 40 years played his last game on Saturday.

Tom played in Armoy’s first ever match and he is a man who can only be described as an icon of everything rugby is about. Everyone is immensely grateful for everything he has done for the club.

Armoy celebrate their 40th year on Saturday with an end of season dinner at the Hedges with 150 guests attending. There’s a lot happening at Armoy with a Biggest Loser, four qualified mini rugby coaches and family fun days planned for the summer.