Dungannon run table-topping Instonians close

DUNGANNON almost halted Instonians incredible run of success in the All-Ireland Leagues at Stevenson Park on Saturday.

Heading into the game, the Shaws Bridge side boasted an incredible record of 30 straight bonus point wins since they returned to the senior ranks at the start of last season, and Dungannon went very close to ending that remarkable run.

The home side took an early lead when Ben McCaughey slotted over a penalty, and after a period of toing and froing, Instonians scored their first try of the day when Bevan Prinsloo dotted down for McMaster to convert.

McCaughey and Dungannon then responded with another penalty to leave the deficit at one point, but, again, Instonians scored a converted try after David Whitten crossed the whitewash and they led by eight points at the break.

The game turned in the home side’s favour after the restart, when Alan Whitten was sent to the sin-bin, and Dungannon brought the deficit back to the minimum as Alex Kennedy grabbed a try, converted by Ben McCaughey.

Unfortunately for the Stevenson Park faithful, a penalty try to Instonians and a subsequent yellow card for Adam Milligan gave the visitors the impetus to extend their lead, which they duly did when Bradley McNamara secured their fourth try, clinching their 31st bonus point victory in a row.

But the drama wasn’t over at that stage, as Dungannon struck back through Milligan and had they not been held up on a couple of earlier occasions, and dealt better with another late opportunity they could well have earned a surprise victory after a performance full of the intensity head coach Jonny Gillespie wants to see every week.

“We gave ourselves a wee bit too much to do,” observed Gillespie. “We achieved a lot of what we said we wanted to achieve, but the two areas that we didn’t get just quite right enough on the day were what we were doing in the opposition 22 and a little bit of the defensive stuff.

“We didn’t quite execute things we’d worked on all week.

“We were held up at least twice, which is potentially 10, 12 or even 14 points, so the margins of error are there; we can see where we have to close the gap, it’s just a case of are we closing it quickly enough.

“Yes, we won’t face Instonians every week, but we have to understand the intensity we brought today has to be there every week, that’s non-negotiable.”

And Gillespie is keen for his players to show the same work ethic this coming Saturday, when they travel to Skerries, who sit just one position above them in the table.

He feels that if they manage to do that, a victory is within their grasp and that it will give them something to build upon as the season reaches a conclusion.

“In terms of the two areas we wanted to go after [on Saturday], there was a little bit of improvement but not enough and Instonians are athletes across the pitch, and if you can’t match that, then you have to be clever and we just didn’t execute in the opposition 22,” he added.

“We had a lot of ball, a lot of territory and we probably did have an opportunity to launch something tasty at the end, but the lineout went over the top, unfortunately.

“But it’s a losing bonus point and those keep you alive in this league, so we will go down to Skerries with a degree of confidence after this.

“It will be about managing the disappointment, but the boys have had two good weeks of training, they didn’t have any time off, but if we can get four or five [points] next week, a five or six point return out of these two games wouldn’t be the worst result.”