Instonian U17’s rise to the Challenge: Dungannon U17 XV 5 v Instonians U17 XV 17

Instonians knew that they would be facing a tough task when they brought their Under 17 squad up to Dungannon’s Stevenson Park on Wednesday, 27 October for a friendly game. It was a dark, damp but windless night.

The game was keenly contested throughout with little quarter asked or given. Inst drew first blood through their blindside flanker and captain Brendan McKenna. The Inst pack drove from a lineout following a penalty and Brendan was able to break clear and score. This was to be the only score of the first half.

Dungannon hit back with a try of their own just five minutes into the second half. This followed a missed penalty kick to touch by Instonians. Dungannon launched a counter attack before Inst could reset their defence. The Inst pack then began to assert itself and contested everything. Their speedy backs ran with menace and made a number of clean breaks only to be hauled down close to the line by a determined Dungannon defence. One sensed that under such pressure something had to give. After 14 minutes Cameron Williams, at inside centre, was put in the clear and ran round behind the posts for a converted try. It was only on the stroke of full-time that Instonians made the game safe when right wing Kadam Hassan outstripped the defence to score. Both sides deserve credit for a hard fought match and some excellent rugby in poor conditions.