Ten days ago Dungannon were fourteen points behind Ballynahinch in the Ulster League. Without talisman second row Michael Rainey five points were collected from Banbridge, without Glen Telford, arguably the best non contracted 12 in Ireland we collected five points from Ballymena. Then without Michael Kirkwood, Callum Threlfall, Jason Bloomfield, Ben Howard and Stuart McKenzie the boys managed a magnificent five point haul against Ballynahinch to win the Ulster Senior League (Stevenson Shield) by one point from Hinch.
This bonus point win over Ballynahinch meant that Paul Magee became the first Dungannon captain since Andy Crawford in 1968 to lift both the Ulster Senior Cup and the Stevenson Shield.
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This game, like last Saturday’s was played in near ideal conditions and was a good contest. For a change Gannon put their opponents under pressure at the start. Hinch lost a man to the bin after five minutes and following a series of phases Timmy Smith drove over for a try after twelve minutes. Michael Lawton converted.
0 – 7
Dungannon further increased their lead with the try of the match form Chris Cochrane. Following some good handling by the threequarters Chris got the ball on his ten metre line and cut between two Hinch players, he has a knack of beating opponents in congested spaces, when he saw daylight he out paced the fullback and the chasers to touch down beside the posts. Michael Lawton converted.
0 – 14
This was something of a reversal from last season when Gannon were chasing the game from the first whistle. Back came Hinch and they soon had a man advantage when Mark Farquhar was binned for an alleged scrumming infringement. Ballynahinch took a scrum instead of a penalty kick at the posts and then after a series of scrums their Number 8 Matthew Irvine went over beside the posts for a try converted by James McBriar.
7 – 14
Hinch kept up the pressure and before Dungannon were restored to full strength almost scored again but Ali Birch brilliantly turned over ball and broke out of the Dungannon twenty-two where he somehow fed the supporting Chris Cochrane. The fullback burst through two would be tackles and beat a defender before showing a clean pair of heels to the chasers to touch down near the right hand corner on the half hour. This afforded out half Kieran Campbell the opportunity to demonstrate his kicking skills as with a delicate touch he gently floated the ball between the posts using the stiff breeze to great advantage.
7 – 21
The introduction of David Spence was timely as a raking kick out of defence put Hinch on the back foot in the run up to half time.
The second half was a case of how many penalties did Dungannon concede. Ballynahinch were lively after the restart and on one occasion broke through the Gannon defence but a thumping tackle by Chris Cochrane on Harry McAleese saved the day as Hinch had an overlap and would most certainly have scored.
Gannon did break into the Hinch half but three successive penalties conceded culminated in the binning of Adam Duhig for an offence close to the try line. Hinch not surprisingly elected for a scrum and after a couple of phases prop Chris Stevenson barged over after sixty-six minutes.
12 – 21
With Dungannon still a man down Hinch’s backs created some space and winger David Nicholson hacked through and won the race for the touch down on seventy minutes.
17 – 21
This try gave Hinch a bonus point and if the score held, the Stevenson Shield.
With seven minutes remaining Dungannon were again restored to fifteen. With the help of the refreshed Duhig Dungannon worked their way up field and won a penalty lineout ten metres short of the Hinch line. The pack got on a good drive and Timmy Smith again come up trumps with the try and the vital bonus point. In a difficult second half when Dungannon were defending for most of the time Timothy had a very significant influence on the game, controlling matters at the base of the scrum and tidying up some sloppy situations. Michael Lawton converted with a fine kick to give Gannon an eleven point lead with six minutes left.
17 – 28
This fourth try gave Dungannon the bonus point and if the score remained unchanged the Stevenson Shield.
Dungannon’s Ali Birch took a great catch at the restart and ran the ball back into the Hinch half. When Hinch were penalised for off side the ball was dispatched to touch. Josh Christie then won the lineout for Dungannon and the pack drove. Now fired up Josh drove off the back of the maul and when he broke a tackle he was there and dived over to the cheers of the Faithful who had moved to Ballymacarn Park for the afternoon. Michael Lawton added the extras with a fine kick in the breeze and referee Black blew the final whistle.
17 – 35
A good game that Dungannon should have killed off after Chris Cochrane’s two magnificent tries but Hinch came back into the game and things looked anything but settled at 21 – 17. However the pack worked hard and the backs ran the ball into Hinch territory for the forwards to finish the game off.
Another great squad performance to equal those against Banbridge and Ballymena. Good performances from Birchy, who was lively throughout and a man of the match performance by Tim Smith but on the day the star of the show was Chris Cochrane who scored two magnificent tries and executed at least two significant tackles that defused dangerous situations.
A proud moment for President Stanley Turkington, Director of Rugby Justin Fitzpatrick and skipper Paul Magee who collected the Stevenson Shield from Ulster Branch representative Denis Gardiner.
Fitzy paid tribute to his players, “A great bunch and on the whole a very young group of players with eight of today’s squad being twenty and under. However we are building for the future, this is only a start, a very good start and a reward for the hard work over the season but it is only a start.”
The last word came from President Stanley Turkington who said, “The boys have been magnificent all season and deserved to win the double. Stevenson Park is the appropriate place for the Stevenson Shield to reside.”
Team: Christopher Cochrane. Darren Simpson, Paul Magee (Capt), Conor Gaston, Michael Lawton. Kieran Campbell, Rowan Halsall. Glen Sinnamon, Adam Duhig, Mark Farquhar. Paul McCarroll, Josh Christie. James McMahon, Ali Birch. Timothy Smith. Phil Whyte, Charlie Sargaison, Stuart Lester, David Spence, Stuart McCloskey
Referee: Michael Black (City of Derry)
Scorers:-
Tries: Timothy Smith (2), Christopher Cochrane (2) & Josh Christie
Cons: Michael Lawton (4) & Kieran Campbell
Pen:
Drop Goal:
