Dungannon left in Hinch’s wake

BALLYNAHINCH reclaimed the Bank of Ireland Senior Cup at Kingspan Stadium after thrashing Dungannon 50-3 in the final on Saturday.

The County Down outfit proved too strong for Jonny Gillespie’s Dungannon side, who achieved promotion back to Energia All-Ireland League 2A just a week before.

But the gulf in class between the Stevenson Park side and their AIL 1A opponents proved too wide at Ulster Rugby HQ as the final turned into a procession rather than a hard-fought encounter.

Hinch signalled their intent from the off, opening the scoring with an Aaron Sexton try in the very first minute before Paul Kerr converted.

And while Ben McCaughey slotted over a penalty on five minutes, there was to be no Dungannon comeback as Hinch went for the jugular from that point on. Claytan Milligan was the next Hinch man to cross the whitewash on eight minutes for an unconverted score before Kerr knocked over a penalty to leave the score 15-3 at the break.

Either side of the interval, Dungannon enjoyed a spell with a numerical advantage after Ronan McCusker had been yellow carded but they were unable to make the most of that period and once Hinch had their full quota back, normal service resumed.

Between the 50th and final minutes, they ran in a further five tries from the likes of Rory Fulton, Bradley Lunney and George Pringle, while Conor Rankin kicked four conversions and Kerr one.

The Teams

Dungannon: Matthew Stockdale, Ryan Abernethy, James Gamble, Cameron Steenson, Callum Johns, Stephen Todd, Billy Allen, Adam Milligan, Alex Johnston, Andrew McGregor, Toby Gribben, Kyle Gormley, James Girvan, Charlie Conroy, Ben McCaughey. Replacements: Sam Montgomery, Jacob Clarke, David Leyburn, Matthew Maguire, Aaron Nelson, Peter Nicholl, Peter Cashel.

Ballynahinch: Callum Smyth, Claytan Milligan,John Dickson, Ronan McCusker, Will Hopes, Declan Horrax, Zack McCall, Bradley Lunney, Chris Gibson, Paul Kerr, Aaron Sexton, Mark Best, George Pringle, Ruairi Meharg, Conor Rankin. Replacements: Kevin Hamilton, Harry McCormic, Peter Heasley, Ryan Connolly, Harry McKeown, Matthew Booth, Rory Fulton.