Dungannon produced one of their best performances in recent years with a resounding win over Division 2a side Banbridge in the semifinal of the Bank of Ireland Senior Cup last Saturday at Rifle Park.
Prior to the start a minute’s silence was observed in respect of former Banbridge president, Austin Hewitson.
Peter Nelson kicked off for the visitors in benign conditions with the first quarter spent in the home half. A Dungannon driving maul from halfway ended up in the home 22 but an infringement relieved the pressure for the hosts.
A Banbridge handling error was picked up by Dungannon and the ball recycled through the hands for Kyle Gormley to put in a strong run from 30 metres out and evade several would be tacklers for the opening try, with Ben McCaughey converting at 0-7.
Dungannon were frequently penalised and when Banbridge failed to find touch from mid field on one occasion, Ben McCaughey, collected and made a lot of ground on the right wing bringing play deep into the home 22. The visiting forwards began to get the upper hand producing quality ball for the backs and Ben was on hand to score in the corner on the half hour. His superb conversion from wide gave Dungannon a 14 point lead.
Unfortunately, just this after scrum half Alex Johnston was forced off through injury to his lower back to be replaced by Toby Gribben.
Dungannon continued to press aided by Peter Nelson who was using his long probing kicks to get good field position.
On one of their rare incursions into the Dungannon half, Banbridge lost possession and a very impressive piece of handling by the Dungannon backline brought play fully 70 metres upfield. It remained there until just before the break when Adam Milligan crashed over with Ben McCaughey getting the conversion. This gave Dungannon a deserved 21-0 lead at the interval.
At the start of the second half the Dungannon pack won a scrum penalty against their retreating opponents. Toby Gribben tapped and made a fine 30 metre break only for the move to peter out.
Banbridge had their best period at this time but a five minute attack in the Dungannon 22 yielded nothing with the defence standing firm.
With Dungannon replacing the front row to no obvious disadvantage, Adam Milligan secured the ball and put Peter Nelson away from 40 metres out for a try at the posts. A McCaughey conversion made the difference - now 28 points.
Mid way through the half, the ball was once again moved with pace and precision along the line to put Ben McCaughey almost away only to be taken out by a late shoulder charge. James McMahon was on hand following up the grubber kick and getting the try converted by Ben McCaughey.
Banbridge did come back with a try in the corner and another on full time both unconverted. In between these two scores, a Banbridge cross kick came off the winger’s chest and the alert James Girvan collected and outpaced the cover for his try in the corner. This completed the scoring leaving the final score 10-40 in favour of Dungannon.
Banbridge who were missing some front line players, as were Dungannon, made too many errors giving the Dungannon side an easier task. It was refreshing to see the quality of handling shown by the team in general and in particular back line who produced 4 of the tries – quite a while since that last happened. An excellent all-round performance by the full squad and a totally deserved win putting them into the final on May 3rd.
Its back to the league next Saturday with an important away fixture with Skerries.
Dungannon: A. Edgar, S. Montgomery, J. Gamble, S. Todd, P. Nicholl, M. Maguire, A. Milligan, J. McMahon, A. Johnston, P. Nelson, M. Brown, K. Gormley, J. Girvan, B. McCaughey, A. McGregor, M. Stockdale, J. Clarke, L. McCrabbe, B. Connelly, T. Gribben, C. Conroy, A. Lewis