By 
DUNGANNON’S first XV tasted defeat for the first time this season when Energia All-Ireland League 2A leaders MU Barnhall sealed a 28-7 victory at Stevenson Park on Saturday.
The visitors started brightly against a Dungannon side, who dropped down to third place in the table on points difference at full-time, scoring three tries in the first 30 minutes through Shane Mallon, Greg Edogun and Keith Farrell, while Oisin O’Neill added one conversion.
The home side rallied before the break with Kyle Gormley dotting down and Troy Gribben slotting the extras before Barnhall extended their lead after the restart thanks to an O’Neill penalty, a Conor Neville try and another O’Neill three pointer as they left Tyrone with a try-scoring bonus point victory and leaving Dungannon without a point after their first defeat of the campaign. The home side had won their first four fixtures since gaining promotion at the end of last season and drawn their fifth 2A clash of the year before Barnhall came to town. And while he acknowledged that the County Kildare outfit proved a step too far on this occasion, Dungannon head coach Jonny Gillespie feels they are the perfect yardstick for his team at this stage of their development.
“We knew we weren’t going to stay unbeaten forever and we knew Barnhall were a different kind of team that we hadn’t faced, so any disappointment has to be part of the context of the overall picture which is that they are better than us, they have more athleticism and they have quality everywhere,” he observed.
“But we’re fine with that because we’d much rather be up in this league facing that than in 2B or 2C slogging away every week. At least we know that we were beaten by a better team and we either put out big boy pants on and close the gap to them or we bail out and let it derail us.
“The baby steps are there, it’s now just about going through that journey of improving those areas. Their athleticism and size profile was something we wouldn’t face very often.
“It’s all about response but there’s no shame in losing to a better side and that’s basically what happened.
“Look, when we got thumped by Ballynahinch last year and Armagh, those were important in helping us gain information on where we stand and how we can get better and today’s [Saturday’s] no different.
“The scoreline isn’t awful, but again, we have to look at them and say ‘OK, fair enough’ and see in two months time can we be more competitive and in May can we catch them for a play-off.”
