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A STRONG second half performance earned Dungannon a 30-10 home victory over Ballymena on Saturday to leave them comfortably in second place in Energia All-Ireland League 2A heading into 2026.
Jonny Gillespie’s men literally and figuratively weathered the storm during the first half, battling against a strong head wind, while managing the Ballymena pressure – including a period with 14 men after picking up a yellow card – throughout to reach the half-time interval on level terms after Peter Nelson’s penalty cancelled out Callum Davidson’s third minute effort.
With the wind at their backs in the second half, Dungannon took charge of proceedings and two more Nelson penalties allied to tries for James Gamble, James and Jack Girvan, all of which were converted by the Canada international, left them well ahead at the final whistle, despite former Ulster forward, Andrew Warwick dotting down for the visitors in the final 10 minutes.
While pleased with the final result and their current standing in the table, Gillespie felt his side rode their luck somewhat on Saturday, particularly in the first half before a ‘mature’ performance in the second period saw them home and dry.
“At 3-3, it probably slightly flattered us for the territory, but we defended quite well, particularly the set-piece defence, but we were nowhere near where we want to be in the first half, so to go in 3-3 at half-time was psychologically a big benefit to us,” he observed.
“We asked for two things at half-time – discipline and terrritory – and Toby [Gribben] kicked well at scrum half and the players delivered.
“There were very few silly mistakes which, at this level, can plague you. It was quite a mature second half and while 30-10 probably flatters us a little bit, at the same time, we were reasonably efficient in their half and that’s what cemented it in the end.”
Dungannon will now enjoy a long Christmas break before returning to action on January 10th with a trip to Eaton Park where they will again play Ballymena and Gillespie knows 2026 will bring more tough challenges and that’s why he’s still not getting carried away by their current league position.
“We’re just trying to work out what the magic number is to be able to relax and not look over our shoulder at the bottom one or two,” he added.
“But we’ll keep cracking on because there are teams we can target at home and we know Corinthians away, Barnhall away, those are going to be really, really tough but we have enough we can sink our teeth into at home to keep the second half successful and we’ll see where we end up.”
