This was an interesting game played in beautiful conditions by teams with contrasting styles. Bruff wanted to keep it tight whereas Dungannon wanted quick ball to feed their hungry threequarters. As expected it was a tight game with Bruff playing to their strengths, their pack had the upper hand and were able to slow the game down. At the end they held on to the ball and a slender one score advantage.
CLICK HERE FOR 150+ Pictures some by Roy Lawton
Bruff were worthy winners on the pitch and St Mary’s are to be complimented for their hosting of both the Bateman and the Junior Cup finals. Their efficient organisation was typical of them and we thank them for the use of their excellent facilities.
Dungannon started the game in typical fashion making a fair hash of the kick off and when Bruff got possession they kept the ball and eventually prop David Horan drove over for the try in the second minute.
[youtube H_IcbW9Kqgo]
5 – 0
Dungannon attacked following the restart and almost broke through but the final pass to Michael Lawton was adjudged to have been forward. This gave Bruff the platform to work their way downfield and after eight minutes they were awarded a penalty on the Dungannon twenty-two that out half Tony Cahill converted.
8 – 0
Dungannon now realised that they had been too charitable and attacked through Kirkwood, Lawton and Telford before being awarded a penalty that Michael Lawton converted against the breeze after twenty minutes.
8 – 3
After twenty-five minutes Christopher Cochrane cleared the ball and when he followed up his kick and tackled the ball carrier he was penalised for being in front of the kicker. Tony Cahill took full advantage of this gift with a fine kick from forty metres.
11 – 3
Dungannon then played some of their best rugby of the game, when the ball went wide Rowan Halsall sent Paul Magee streaking through for a fine try on thirty-fiver minutes. Michael Lawton converted.
11 – 10
Dungannon now put more pressure on Bruff and with forwards and backs combining almost created an opening. Eventually we were turned over five metres short of the Bruff line and when their flanker Alan Bourke broke away he, with the help of some sloppy Dungannon tackling, made the Dungannon twenty-two and would have scored but for Rowan Halsall finally bringing him to ground. Thankfully Dungannon won the ball and Paddy Jackson cleared the lines.
Dungannon had the wind at their backs at the start of the second half but Bruff were awarded the first penalty of the half and opted to go for the corner. Following the resultant lineout Dungannon lost the influential Michael Rainey with an injury. Bruff held field position and eventually number eight Peter Malone drove over for the try converted with a good kick by Tony Cahill after forty-eight minutes.
18 – 10
Dungannon again attacked but as they went through the phases their next attack was well and truly stopped by referee Carville. When scrum half Michael Kirkwood picked the ball up at the base of a ruck Bruff counter rucked and knocked a man into Michael who as well as being propelled backwards dropped the ball. The ball also moved backwards. Before Michael could pick the ball up the whistle went and to the astonishment of the player and spectators Michael was advised he had knocked the ball on. Momentum and position lost. Two minutes later Glen Telford tackled a Bruff player but despite his obvious efforts to extricate his arm from beneath the tackled player he was wrongly penalised. This was double blow to Dungannon because not only had we lost field position from the ‘knock on’ Tony Cahill accepted another gift and put another three points on the board for Bruff with a fine kick.
21 – 10
Undeterred Dungannon went on the attack and created a couple of chances, the best one saw Conor Gaston break away but the Bruff fullback Brendan Deady was up to the challenge. Dungannon did get a penalty that Michael Lawton converted after sixty-nine minutes.
21 – 13
A minute later Dungannon mounted another attack and a beautiful short pass by Paddy Jackson on halfway sent Conor Gaston searing through. This time Conor was not to be denied by anybody as he crashed over the Bruff line to put new heart into Dungannon.
21 – 18
One minute after the restart Bruff were awarded another penalty that went wide but they were now in ball retention mode and ran the clock down until they were awarded a penalty that Tony Cahill kicked on seventy-eight minutes.
24 – 18
Following the restart Gannon went on the offensive and broke away but again the Bruff defence held firm. In the final minute another Dungannon break looked very promising, unfortunately the final pass went behind Chris Cochrane and when Christopher regained possession he was surprised to find that he had knocked the ball on. That was the final act of the game; Bruff had won the Bateman Cup
The Dungannon contingent, players and supporters were disappointed but the boys had tried their best and cannot be faulted. The supporters were also magnificent and the Captain Paul Magee paid tribute to them after the game, “ It is disappointing not to win particularly as we could hear the ‘Good ol’ shanty’ bellowing out from the sidelines but if at first you don’t succeed as they say. The boys have played well all season and we gave it our best shot today but Bruff had the possession and played the game the way the wanted.”
Team: Conor Gaston. Michael Lawton, Paul Magee (Capt), Glen Telford, Christopher Cochrane. Paddy Jackson, Michael Kirkwood (Kieran Campbell). Phil Whyte, Adam Duhig, Glen Sinnamon (Mark Farquhar). Michael Rainey (Callum Threlfall), Aaron Fry (Stuart McKenzie). Thomas Anderson, Ali Birch, Rowan Halsall. Christopher Knipe, Timothy Smith Darren Simpson,.
Referee: John Carville (Leinster)
Scorers:-
Tries: Paul Magee & Conor Gaston
Cons: Michael Lawton
Pen: Michael Lawton (2)
Drop Goal:
Dungannon II XV vs Dromore I XV (15 – 10)
Kukri Conference League
As a spectacle this was a game of two halves, the first period produced flowing rugby with both sides, especially Dromore attacking at every opportunity whilst the second was more tactical and more of a forward battle. In the end Dungannon clung on to their lead by their fingertips ending the game with thirteen men and under the Dromore cosh.
Dungannon stared well and built up their attacks right from the kick off. After about eight phases the white booted Chris Henderson stepped through a gap in the Dromore defence on the twenty-two and went over between the posts after two minutes. Christopher’s somewhat adventurous conversion went over via the woodwork.
7 – 0
From the restart Dromore attacked and spurned a kickable penalty to go for the corner. After a good build up their scrum half Tom Finn darted over from a ruck and touched under the posts after seven minutes with Matthew Russell successfully converting.
7 – 7
Dungannon went on the offensive again and good work between Alan Cummings and debutant Peter Nelson almost created an opening for Dungannon. However after fifteen minutes a slick pass by Mark Riddell sent Daryl Marshall through a gap mid field, Daryl did well to break away and beat two defenders to score a try from forty metres out.
12 – 7
The game was very open with both sides attacking. After a kick from defence a great bit of chasing from Mark Riddell almost proved to be fruitful to Gannon when Mark charged down the clearance kick. A half break by Peter Nelson and a great step by Ryan O’Neil almost provided a try for Alan Cummings but the Dromore defence closed him down. The Dungannon scrum was doing very well and when Dromore infringed on the stroke of halftime Christopher Henderson knocked over the penalty.
15 – 7
The second half started like a jamboree with both teams getting liberal advice from their supporters and moving the ball about with abandon. However ten minutes in play settled and Dromore started to get the upper hand. Dungannon lost Paul McCarroll after the hour and Dromore turned around Dungannon’s previous advantage in the scrums. Dromore spent what seemed like the next fifteen minutes in the Dungannon twenty-two and altogether too much of that around the Dungannon five metre line. The Dungannon defence was immense with Riddell, Potter Snr, Lockhart and Sargaison particularly evident in this rearguard action. On seventy-four minutes Brian Simpson was sent to the bin when he was up to quickly to tackle a Dromore player who took a quick penalty from the five metre line. Following more heroics from the Dungannon six man pack Dromore held on and Peter Nelson’s resultant penalty cleared the lines. Skipper Potter was then penalised and Dromore kicked a successful penalty through Matthew Russell after seventy-six minutes.
15 – 10
Dungannon turned over possession to Dromore when the restart failed to go ten metres but the thirteen men held out and the score remained 15-10 at the final whistle.
A good contest between two teams keen to play rugby and a great performance by Dungannon over the final quarter when they were reduced to fourteen and then thirteen men.
Team: Ryan O’Neill. Brian Simpson, Peter Nelson, Stuart Gilroy, Alan Cummings. Christopher Henderson, Timothy Potter. Adam Lockhart, Simon Potter (Captain), Charlie Sargaison. Paul McCarroll, Stephen Todd. Mark Riddell, Daryl Marshall, James McMahon.
Referee: David Wilson (Belfast HS FP)
Scorers:-
Tries: Christopher Henderson & Daryl Marshall
Cons: Christopher Henderson
Pen: Christopher Henderson
Drop Goal:
