Three wins in a row for Dungannon

DUNGANNON enjoyed a surprisingly comfortable day in Dublin where they eased to a try-scoring bonus point 31-17 victory at Wanderers on Saturday to stay level on points at the top of the Energia All-Ireland League 2A table with MU Barnhall after a third successive victory.

Having won on the road at Greystones, followed by a narrow home win over Galway Corinthians last weekend, Dungannon travelled to Merrion Road with a confidence that proved well-placed as they romped to their latest victory to continue their somewhat surprising perfect start to their first season back in 2A.

“It’s taken me a little bit by surprise, if I’m honest, just with the way pre-season went with all the injuries,” Dungannon head coach, Jonny Gillespie admitted.

“I’m surprised maybe by the results, but not the performances because I know what we can do when we play well and have a good attitude, but maybe I expected our opposition to be a bit further on in their wee journey too.

“We’ve maybe caught teams on the right day, but to win three out of three is a really nice return for the first block and we’re delighted.”

After David Fitzgibbon kicked the home side into a 19th minute lead, Dungannon took control of proceedings with a penalty try followed by a Jack Girvan touchdown that was converted by Ben McCaughey.

Wanderers did close the gap at the break through a Jamie Kavanagh score, converted by Fitzgibbon, but in the second half James McCammon and Andrew McGregor both touched down to secure the try-scoring bonus point, while McCaughey added two conversions and a penalty to make it 31-10 before Jordon Conroy added a consolation effort for the home side, converted by Fitzgibbon, six minutes from time.

“We were probably comfortable and we knew with about ten [minutes] to go that it was probably okay. It was a really mature performance, really effective – at no time did they have a purple patch – so it was a good win,” Gillespie beamed. “We understand not every week is going to be like that: There are going to be tough days, we get that, but the performance was so good today that it made the result a little bit more comfortable”

Having claimed a third win in a row, their second with a bonus point, to sit level on points with leaders Barnhall, is an exceptional start to the season for Dungannon, but its not one that is going to see them get carried away as they, and Gillespie, know that much tougher tests lie ahead.

However, that’s when he believes the squad’s collective experience will come to the fore.

“The squad is the same as the one that had to go down to Navan and fight, who won in Galway twice with a gun to its head… They have tasted disappointment, they’ve had all of that, so it’s nothing new. It’s just 2A beside the league table rather than 2B so there’s nothing new.

“The feet are on the ground but we’d rather have three from three going into the next block confident rather than being zero for three, so there’s no over-confidence or complacency in the group.”