A ‘bridge too far for ‘Gannon

DUNGANNON’S start to the new season started in disappointing fashion in the Ulster Senior Cup on Saturday when they went down 26-5 at home against their All-Ireland League 2A rivals Banbridge.

Fielding something of a make-shift team, which featured some square pegs in round holes, particularly in the back row, Dungannon struggled to get to grips with their opponents on the day especially in the set-piece.

“We had no lineout at all,” Dungannon head coach, Jonny Gillespie, observed.

“With the personnel we had, that was to be expected because we had one hand tied behind our back.

“It was a case of needs must [in terms of the line-up] because we have quite a high unavailability list for varying reasons – none of them bad, just a wide range of stuff – and we were particularly short in the back row.

“But the boys dug in and did their best and the maul defence was excellent and our attack from open play was quite good.

“We created some nice opportunities but you always felt as if we were a bit under pressure in the set piece.

“There’s plenty to work on but we just need to get a few boys back sooner rather than later.”

Tries from Fletcher Britz and Eddie Dawson and a Charlie Beattie conversion had the visitors 12-0 to the good by the interval.

Banbridge pulled further ahead in the second half when tries from Troy Pinion and Adam Doherty, both of which Beattie converted, helped them seal a 5-26 victory – Dungannon’s points coming from a Sean O’Hagan score.

And while Gillespie admits the better side won on the day, he felt his team were closer to Banbridge than the scoreline would suggest.

“We forced it a wee bit but I’d say there were two tries ahead of us in terms of quality, but nothing more and noting we can’t adapt to ahead of AIL [All-Ireland League] time.”

Next up for Dungannon is a trip to AIL 1A side, Ballynahinch, which, despite being under-strength, Gillespie is looking forward to.

“You want to play the best teams -I’d prefer to have a full deck but I’d rather have that for the AIL!” he admitted.

“It’s always nice to have a shot at the bigger clubs and see what they are about, so we’ll not complain about it or shirk it.

“It’s nice to play teams from the leagues above us and that should leave us nicely prepared for Greystones [in the AIL opener on September 27th], assuming we get a few bodies back.”