Dungannon 2XV 15 – 50 Ballynahinch 2XV
Dungannon IIs appeared to be on their way to creating an upset against League leaders, Ballynahinch after leading for the first fifty minutes at grey and greasy Stevenson Park. Alas, for the home side, the County Down men got their noses in front and thereafter the floodgates opened with man of the match, Aaron Cairns darting in for a quartet of tries in the space of fifteen minutes. For Dungannon it was a disappointing finish as coaches, Paddy Johns, Kenny Wright and Paul Milligan looked on in disbelief. Ballynahinch’s 50-15 win may have been a little flattering but they are going to take some stopping in the 2nd XV League. Dungannon kicked off and proceeded to dominate with Stuart McKenzie making ground inside the Hinch twenty-two. When the ball was recycled and moved to the right Mark Faloon took the final pass to score out wide on five minutes. The home side kept the momentum going but the next offensive was foiled by the referee’s whistle. However, Dungannon held field position and when the chance came Gareth McGonagall fired over a drop goal to make it 8-0 after twenty minutes. Hinch bounced back and a quickly taken penalty allowed winger, Matthew Arneill to break away for James McBriar to convert on twenty-three minutes. The visitors were now running well but it was Dungannon who continued to dominate up front with lock forwards, Paul McCarroll and Richard Holmes making their presence felt. Another McKenzie break then saw the ball transferred to Faloon but the move ended in a set scrum. The home side still managed to finish the half on top when a forward surge paved the way for Ben Howard to dive over at the posts. Gareth McGonigle added the simple conversion for a 15-7 lead at the break.
Hinch started the second half on the attack and were duly rewarded when McBriar landed a penalty two minutes in. Dungannon then repulsed the next offensive with a timely ‘mark’ from Peter Cashel. However, the same player was obstructed and that led to a penalty and another chance for Dungannon to attack. Alas, for the home side, Hinch lock, Matthew Connolly countered and ran straight for forty metres to score after fifty minutes. James McBriar converted to give the visitors a first time lead of 15-17. Hinch then moved into overdrive and scrum-half, Cairns delighted the travelling support with his quartet of tries on 55, 65, 68 and 70 minutes. McBriar converted three of those and Hinch were out of sight at 43-15. In the last move of the game Jordan Heatley completed the scoring with a converted try as Ballynahinch moved even closer to the League title.
Team: Darren Simpson, Sean Conway, Jordan Patterson, Mark Faloon, Peter Cashel, Gareth McGonigle, Richard Wright (Capt). Charlie Sargaison, Daniel Maxwell, Ben Howard. Paul McCarroll, Richard Holmes. Derek Hall, Jeremy Turkington, Stuart McKenzie. Referee: John Adams
Grosvenor 3 20 – 14 Dungannon 4XV
A competitive game between two well matched teams with Grosvenor making their greater experience count in the end. Dungannon started well and pressurised Grosvenor but basic errors cost them possession and thus scoring opportunities. When Grosvenor broke out of defence their pack did the work and their backs were left with an overlap that allowed them to run in a converted try on ten minutes. 7-0. The youthful Dungannon pack took the game to Grosvenor and on twenty-five minutes Sean O’Hagan went over for the try which Eddie Laverty converted. 7-7. Grosvenor were first to score in the second half retaking the lead with a penalty. They then extended the lead with an unconverted try. 15-7. There was then an unfortunate incident which resulted in a yellow card for a Grosvenor player and an unfortunate red for a Dungannon player. Undeterred the youthful Dungannon pack ran a couple of penalties and after two phases that ace poacher Jeremy Baird barged over for a try converted by Eddie Laverty. 15-14. Grosvenor came back with another unconverted try. 20-14. This spurred on Dungannon and they pressured Grosvenor. However the home defence held and Grosvenor took the points. Aly Moore and David Reid were impressed with the boys performance. “Good performance from a team with so many young players; they lacked nothing in enthusiasm and will benefit from the experience.”
Team: Lorcan McGrath. Mark Werpalhowski, Adam Booth, Edward Laverty, Ross Devlin. Mark Sally, David Spence. Zac Farrell, Jarrod Miller, Sean O’Hagan. Gordon Stewart, Fergal Mallon. Peter Gilkinson, Tony O’Hagan, Jeremy Baird (Capt) Referee: Lee Adams
