Junior League
Dungannon III 32 Instonians III 12
Dungannon had first use of the stiff breeze and certainly hit the road running. Some fine passing between backs and forwards put Instonians under early pressure before Eddie Laverty acted as provider for a Jonny Toal try. Gareth Graham added the extras after two minutes.
7 – 0 FOR PICTURES CLICK HERE
So far so good but Dungannon’s early domination faded and when Inst sliced a penalty on fifteen minutes the home supporters were getting a little uneasy. However, Gareth Graham landed a penalty midway through the half and Dungannon looked forward to an improved second quarter. Jonny Toal completed his brace on twenty-three minutes.
15 – 0
Shortly before halftime Jonny Smith burst through to score after the returning Philip Stinson made ground with a line kick. Gareth Graham converted.
22 – 0
Instonians now had wind advantage and seemed to use it well forcing Dungannon back on several occasions. With the visitors failing to trouble the scoreboard it was time for the Dungannon pack to ignite and they fired up well. A good break from Peter Keightley took play close to the Inst line before the lively Mark McFarland took the final pass to dive over for a try after fifty-five minutes.
27 – 0
That try put Dungannon in the comfort zone. However going into the final quarter Dungannon conceded several penalties and after one of them loose talk caused a seemingly innocent Dungannon player to get sent to the bin. Afterwards, the guilty player admitted it should have been him sent to bin adding that the recipient of the yellow only added the punctuation!
Instonians quickly took advantage of the numerical advantage. From the ensuing penalty they sent their back line into action for Matthew Wright to race in from fifty metres. Richard Maguire converted on sixty-eight minutes.
27 – 7
Dungannon’s response was swift, two minutes later David Spence moved down the narrow side. Philip Stinson took the final pass and raced for the try.
32 – 7
That completed the Dungannon tally but final say went to the Instonians pack when lock forward, Chris Sweeney dived over three minutes from time for an unconverted try.
32 – 12
Not a great performance by the IIIs but a win and two points keeps them top of the League.
Team: Edward Laverty. Jonny Toal, Andrew Caddoo, Jonathan Smith (Capt), Philip Stinson. Gareth Graham, David Spence. Steven Gavin, Kirby Hamilton, Neil McGinley. Gareth Lucas, Andrew Girvan. Philip McCammon, Mark McFarland, Peter Keightley,
Referee: Vincent Hughes
Tries: Johnny Toal (2), Jonathan Smith, Mark McFarland & Philip Stinson.
Conversions: Gareth Graham (2)
Penalties: Gareth Graham
