Instonians agony for Seconds

Dungannon II 24

Dungannon Seconds, following a disappointing start, rallied well to take the lead before a dramatic late try by the home side gave Instonians the spoils in a close fought encounter at Shaws’ Bridge on Saturday.

A good start by Inst was rewarded when lock forward, James LeBroy dived over on 6 minutes. Matthew McGuigan converted for a 7-0 lead.

Jake Finlay, playing in the unusual role of out-half, then cut the deficit with a penalty on 13 minutes. Dungannon still had not settled and an offside decision allowed McGuigan to restore the seven point margin. Come the 23rd minute the same player added the extras to a second try when fullback, Adam McCarthy raced through the middle before touching down at the posts.

Two minutes later Finlay added his second penalty to make it 17-6. Inst were clearly on top at this stage but failed to take advantage when Dungannon lost Richard Holmes to the ‘sin bin’. Instead, the home side had the misfortune to lose scrum-half, Matthew Keane through injury and when Holmes returned the visitors struck with Peter Cashel scoring right on the half time whistle.

Dungannon started the second half on the offensive and following a Finlay penalty miss, Richard Fletcher burst through the middle to cut the deficit to one point. Finlay added the conversion and the visitors enjoyed a one point lead on 45 minutes. The penalty strewn game then intensified and Finlay hit the target twice on 60 and 67 minutes respectively. In between, McGuigan struck for Inst and the score now stood at 20-24.

With five minutes remaining Dungannon appeared to have done enough but a turnover and smart riposte from the home back line saw Richard Fagan grab the all important winning try for Instonians.

Dungannon II: Colin Gibson, Ed Laverty, Peter Cashel, Richard Fletcher, John O’Neill, Jake Finlay, Richard Wright, Charlie Sargaison, Stephen Rea, Neil McGinley, Paul McCarroll, Steven Donaghy, Jonny Gordon, Jeremy Baird, Richard Holmes.