Dungannon IIIs consolidated their mid table position in the Junior League with a well deserved win over a young Carrick outfit at sunny Stevenson Park. The start was good with Dungannon taking play into the opponents half before Ben Kennedy fired over a simple penalty on five minutes. Two minutes later Johnny Toal went scorching down the right wing but he was denied when the referee called play back for a forward pass. Seconds later though, there was justice for Johnny when he crossed the park to take a perfectly timed pass from Ben Kennedy before touching down at the posts. The latter added the extras to send Dungannon ten points clear on fifteen minutes. Midway through the half some good running from Mark McFarland and David Irwin, who was trying out the wing position, paved the way for lock, Adam Booth to touch down in the corner. Carrick settled in the second quarter and when centre, Luke Totten chipped the ball over the heads of the home defence he was unlucky not to get a score when the ball bounced badly with Dungannon carrying over for a five metre scrum. Carrick held field position and despite the offer of a couple of frees they failed to breach the home defence. In the end a turnover allowed Dungannon to clear the ball downfield. Once back on the offensive a swift piece of handling allowed Peter ‘da Bilda’ Sandford to run clear and make it 20-0 right on the half-time whistle.
The third quarter was a rather sloppy affair and Dungannon failed to build on their lead despite good runs by Kennedy and Chris Blair. However just before the hour mark the pack made good use of a lineout drive with Jeremy Baird claiming the touchdown. That prompted a riposte from Carrick and when their skipper, Richard Higgins broke down the left flank Totten was up in support to finish the job. Out-half, Adam Kendall converted to make it 25-7 on sixty-two minutes. Dungannon hit back with a try from Irwin five minutes later and then came try of the match when Adam Booth tested the Carrick defence from several angles before sending David Spence in at the posts. At 35-7 Dungannon appeared to be ‘home and dry’. Irwin added his second try on seventy-five minutes but the final say went to Jonny Toal who scampered in for Corey Anderson to convert with the last kick of the game.
Team: Chris Blair. Johnny Toal, Ben Kennedy, Peter Sandford, David Irwin, Corey Anderson, David Spence. Sean O’Hagan, Jeremy Baird, Charlie Farrell. Adam Booth, Jonathan Parr. Mark McFarland, Kyle Thompson, Tony O’Hagan.
Dungannon 4XV 8 – 24 Grosvenor 3
06 Apr 2013 14:30
Dungannon IVs competed well in the opening half of this encounter against Grosvenor but a couple of injuries proved too much and the visitors took control in the second half after the sides tied 5-5 at the break. Andrew Tate scored the losers’ try before the visitors registered 19 points in the latter half with Cormac Convery landing a penalty for Dungannon.
Team: Cormac Convery, Andrew Tate, Andrew Mills, Mark Faloon, Mark Werpachowski, Lorcan McGrath, Robert McLean, Jaryd Miller, Keith Moore, Ally Moore, Gordon Stuart, Stephen Donaghy, Paul Martin, David Leyburn, Andrew Girvan.
