This was yet another cracking contest served up by the two sides at Dubarry Park on Saturday afternoon. Second placed Buccaneers started in style and went 14 points clear in the opening quarter. Dungannon pulled back a try in the second to make it 14-5 at the break. Following a hard fought and scoreless third quarter Dungannon with a ‘never say die’ attitude made their presence felt in the closing stages with two superb tries to close out second placed Buccs in an exciting finish.
Buccs made it a frantic start and when they ran the ball left impressive fullback, John O’Brien joined the back line before sweeping in to score. Jack Carty added the conversion and the home side were off to a great start. Further Buccs pressure was largely resisted by sound Dungannon tackling but the visitors did gift Stephen Burke, a flanker playing in the 2nd row, a try when Lawton just missed his roll into touch. Stephen Burke picked up the loose ball and sped off for Carty to convert.
On 21 minutes Dungannon were awarded a penalty, taken quickly by Michael Kirkwood who sped past the retreating defenders before sending Stuart Lester in at the right hand corner. Lawton just missed the conversion but Dungannon were back in the game. The fast and furious contest continued until an injury stoppage allowed for a return of breath. Colin Watters, who had been acting as best man at a wedding just one hour earlier, entered the fray to help the westerners keep the pressure on Gannon. The visitors held firm in defence and there was no further scoring ahead of the break.
The third quarter proved to be scoreless as the war of attrition continued. Buccs had a chance to ease further ahead but Carty shot wide with a simple penalty. By the 67th minute Dungannon were defending when a ricochet fell to the hands of Ali Birch who made ground out on the right. When switched left Thomas Anderson carried the ball well and Lawton then made a half break. Seeing he could n’t out run the cover he chipped ahead and collected the rebound close to the line before skipping in. His conversion saw the flags go up, but the referee overruled the Touch Judges. Either way it was now ‘game on’. The midfield battle continued and the fitter, fleet footed Dungannon were justly rewarded when Kirkwood handed off David Connellan before flicking the ball to the supporting Rowan Halsall who ran all the way to the posts. He was felled just short and it took an extra stretch to secure the touch down. Lawton popped over the simple conversion to give Gannon a first time lead, 17-14, on 75 minutes. It proved to be enough as Dungannon wound down the clock but Buccs will regret a clear 4;2 overlap which saw the ball bounce off the foot of a centre. Paul Magee quickly fly kicked the ball into the stand. Referee, Clancy then sounded the final whistle and the double over Buccs had been completed.
Dungannon:- Chris Cochrane, Stuart Lester(Callum Threlfall), Paul Magee(capt), Glen Telford, Darren Simpson, Michael Lawton, Michael Kirkwood, Glen Sinnamon(Mark Farquhar), Adam Duhig, Phil Whyte(Glen Sinnamon), Aaron Fry(Timmy Smith), Michael Rainey, Thomas Anderson, Rowan Halsall, Ali Birch. Sub: Chris Knipe.
Buccaneers:- John O’Brien, Conor Lavelle, Paul Harte, Aidan Wynne, Callum Boland, Jack Carty, David Connellan, Conor Higgins, Garreth Halligan(capt), Dylan Rogers(Martin Staunton), Padraig de Burca, Stephen Burke, John Hayes(Marcus Madden), Eoin Rooney(Colin Watters), Kolo Kiripati. Subs:- Colin Draper, Alex Hayman.
Referee:- George Clancy (Munster)
