Under 17s extend unbeaten run

In the opening quarter excellent Ards ball retention meant that Lurgan literally did not get their hands on the ball for the first ten minutes of the game.

Eventually from an Ards knock on and Lurgan put in, Matthew Johnstone set off from deep inside his own half to establish a foothold in the Ards half. Lurgan now used their forwards to drive to the Ards line. From the following 5m scrum Faloon picked up and drove over to open the scoring with the convertion from McCormick.

From the kick off Lurgan lost concentration and allowed Ards an easy score which they failed to convert.

Again Lurgan pushed to extend the score and almost did when left winger Michael McCrory rounded the defence only to be tackled into touch just yards from the line. From the resultant line out Paddy McVeigh stole the opposition throw and touched down in the corner.

Lurgan rounded off the first half with a further try from Faloon which McCormick converted to leave the score at 19-7.

Poor concentration from two restarts in the second half saw Lurgan again concede points with Ards scoring in quick succession to bring the score to 19-17.

This seemed to spur Lurgan into action and the Lurgan forwards again drove up the field eventually releasing Jaime Clarke who was forced into touch again just yards away from a score. From the resulting line out Lurgan charged down the kick and were impeded as a certain score was on the cards and a penalty try was awarded to make it 26-17.

Aaron Elliot was the next to score for Lurgan in what was to be the try of the match. The wiry full back picked up a ball in midfield and set of on one of his mazy runs, rounding the defence to score under the posts with McCormick converting.

The final try of the game came from Robbie Hannigan following great work by Johnny McGeown. The Lurgan defence, especially Johnnie McGeown, held firm to leave the final score 38-17.

Lurgan now face their biggest test of the season with this week’s visit of Dromore who are also unbeaten this season.