Dungannon started the game strong with the advantage of an extra man as an earlier yellow card was given to a Ballymena player after a dangerous tackle on full back Josh Girvan. Consistent pressure on all areas of the pitch, scrum penalties in favour of Gannon and their lineout functioning well, however this was not enough Ballymena stood strong and held Dungannon strong.
Ballymena’s gameplan was evident - play no rugby in their own half, and sink their teeth in once they’ve arrived at the homeside 22 and they done just that. The Ballymena 10 gave them good access with nicely placed kicks and attacking shapes they crept closer - eventually getting over for their 1st converted try of the day - 7-0 stood the score.
Gannon stayed strong - attacking themselves before infringing and giving away a kick able penalty, the inform Ballymena 10 slotted it, making the score 10-0.
Ballymena managed to sneak over once again before the end of the half to make it 15-0 on half time.
Despite the score Gannon knew they were in the game still - the second half was somewhat of a stalemate. Ballymena couldn’t get across the Gannon line, and Dungannon found themselves held up 3 times, if scored they would lead the match.
Dungannon’s only try of the day came from Andrew Lee - good 5m pressure from the forwards, Zak Holmes and Patrick Conroy seeing the space where able to play the ball with good accuracy to get the score.
Final Score stood at 15-5 in favour of Ballymena, the 2nds can feel disappointed to have not won the game, the better team in certain aspects of the game, the young side just lacked the experience and accuracy to get over the line when it mattered, a great performance against a side that sit second in the league.