By 
DUNGANNON’S first XV were forced to dig deep once more as they battled back from an 18-6 deficit to seal a 20-18 triumph at Old Crescent in Limerick where they not only picked up a vital four Energia All-Ireland League 2A points to cement second place, but also the coveted Eric Shields Cup the sides traditionally battle for.
Dungannon took a seventh minute lead when Canada international Peter Nelson knocked over a penalty, but that was as good as it got for the Stevenson Park men for almost an hour as Old Crescent took charge.
Joe McEnery dotted down for their first score of the day, which went unconverted as Jeff Williams missed the kick for the extras and after he fired a penalty wide he finally found his range on 32 minutes with a successful three point effort, which was followed by another on the stroke of half-time for an 11-3 lead.
Cameron Steenson saw yellow at the start of the second half and Old Crescent took advantage with a try, converted by Williams, but that seemed to spur Dungannon into life and on the hour mark their comeback began with captain, Adam Milligan dotting down for an unconverted effort after Jack O’Mahoney had been sent to the bin for the home side. Three minutes later, replacement Alfie Lewis grabbed another Dungannon score, converted by Nelson, to move his side to within three points of their hosts and with 10 minutes to go they had completed their comeback with Charlie Conroy dotting down for another five points to make it 20-18. With head coach, Jonny Gillespie unavailable on Saturday, Jonny Patton took charge and he was as relieved as he was pleased come the full-time whistle.
“It was a very, very good turnaround. I think things started to click in the last 20 [minutes],” he observed. “We played into a pretty stiff wind first half but they scored early second half and it meant it was a matter of not chasing it too quickly but they held their patience, got their reward thankfully and we got over the line.”
