Although beaten by Section 2 winners Banbridge IIIs on Saturday’s Harden Cup Final Dungannon IVs gave a good account of themselves and in a second half come back were only one score away from making it a very interesting last fifteen minutes. After falling behind by 32 – 8 the boys did well to close the gap to ten points.
With a strong wind swirling mostly across the pitch Bann went ahead in the first minute when the wind and the hard ground led to a well placed kick being misjudged by the Dungannon defence allowing Banbridge centre Gary McKibbin to collected the ball and race away to touch down under the posts from forty metres out. Mark Doherty converted.
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7 – 0
Dungannon responded positively working their way steadily up field through the pack thanks to good lineout work by Christopher Holland and Gareth Lucas. A charge down by Tank Thompson put Banbridge under pressure then a neat kick ahead from Andrew Caddoo bounced into touch giving Dungannon field position in the Bann twenty-two. From the resultant lineout the Dungannon pack caught Banbridge in possession and following a Gannon scrum the pack drove and Steven Sinnamon got the touch down after eight minutes.
7 – 5
Then the kickers, Banbridge’s Mark Doherty and Dungannon’s Gareth Graham exchanged penalties in the thirteenth and eighteenth minutes.
10 – 8
The Dungannon pack was doing well with Steven Gavin creating mayhem at one particular stage, turning over ball at a vital time. Clive Whylie’s boot turned defence into attack for Dungannon and when Banbridge failed to clear Gareth Graham made ground with one of his cameo runs. We were even treated to a Steven Sinnamon chip over the top and the Banbridge full back Doherty did well to mark the ball otherwise the chase might have proved detrimental to his team.
Then came a decision that rocked the Dungannon players, from the out half position Clive Whylie thumped a might clearance up to the halfway. Dungannon had been under pressure with an offside Bann forward obstructing our scrum half so the clearance was doubly welcomed especially when the ref gave a penalty. . Then to everyone’s surprise the penalty was awarded to Bann for Christopher Holland (along with all of the other Dungannon forwards) being off side. Bann apparently opted for a scrum at the point of infringement making full use of the situation and giving a perfect example of how to move the ball quickly from the back of a scrum. Wing John Porter just squeezed at the corner. Mark Doherty converted with a fine kick that went in off the post after twenty-eight minutes.
17 – 8
The events surrounding the award of the penalty to Bann visibly distracted the Gannon players and understandably frustration quickly set in with the conceding of a great number of penalties. Some lazy work following a lineout allowed Bann to turnover possession and this phase of play ended with centre Gary McKibbin running right through the Dungannon defence to score beside the posts for Mark Doherty to convert on forty minutes.
24 – 8
Thankfully Dungannon regrouped over the halftime break and put the frustrations of the second quarter behind them. Philip Hall and Andrew Caddoo led the charge. But Banbridge did not get into the Harden Cup Final by mistake and four minutes into the half despite some good defensive work by Gareth James, Chris Blair and Brian Simpson Bann engineered an opening, quickly moving the ball to full back Doherty who took the tackle and allowed wing Porter to finish off a well worked try.
29 – 8
Five minutes later Gannon we caught offside and Doherty opened the gap to twenty-four points with a good strike.
32 – 8
Dungannon then threw caution to the wind and ran at Bann. Philip Hall, Gareth McMullan, Steven Sinnamon and the Lucas brothers, Darran and Gareth took play to Banbridge. Andrew Caddoo was stopped short of the Bann line and then a might effort by the pack saw Steven Sinnamon force his way over after fifty-seven minutes. Gareth Graham converted with a beautifully judged kick.
32 – 15.
From the restart Ben Simpson put Philip Hall into space and when he was stopped the pack took over. Jeremy Baird broke away on the touch line and play moved into the Bann red zone. The pack kept the pressure on and Steven Sinnamon went over for his third try of the afternoon with Gareth Graham converting in the sixty-fifth minute.
32 – 22
A ten pint deficit with time left on the clock, Gannon needed another quick score to put themselves in with a real chance. A Ben Simpson high kick was taken on and Christopher Blair sprung into action stopped only by a despairing Banbridge hand hanging on to his jersey. Another Blair run from outside the twenty-two saw him stopped less than ten metres short. Adam Booth got into a bit of space and the move was carried on by Aaron Faloon and Julian Knipe. Then Brian Simpson broke along the touchline but ran out of space. Dungannon were in full cry but try as they might the Banbridge defence was solid and the game ended with Dungannon still pursuing their fourth try.
Despite the frustration of Dungannon this was a good game with Bann’s slick backs taking their chances but the Dungannon pack made things interesting throughout.
Julian Knipe was very proud of his players and so he should be, Julian and Derek McMullan have worked very hard all season and the squad did well to win their section in their first season back in the Junior League. Don’t forget that they also reached the final of both the competitions they competed in and their only league defeat was against a dubious CI team.
Now for next season and let’s see if they can move up another rung on the ladder.
Team: Christopher Blair. Brian Simpson, Philip Hall, Clive Whylie (Kevin McElduff), Gareth Graham. Ben Simpson, Gareth James. Darran Lucas, Jeremy Baird (Aaron Falloon), Steven Gavin (Gareth McMullan). Gareth Lucas, Mark Thompson (Adam Booth). Christopher Holland, Andrew Caddoo (Julian Knipe), Steven Sinnamon.
Referee: Clem Bassett (Rainey OB)
Scorers:-
Tries: Steven Sinnamon (3)
Cons: Gareth Graham (2)
Pen: Gareth Graham
Drop Goal:
