Dungannon topple league leaders

Dungannon Thirds turned on a huge performance at Stevenson Park on Saturday before taking the scalp of league leaders, Coleraine.

In a highly competitive game it was the visitors who started on top and when it became a little overheated in the back row Andrew McKnight landed a penalty on the fifth minute.

Dungannon bounced back and with the pack taking good possession in the loose Richard Wright was able to feed ball to the back line. They responded well and there were notable runs from Chris Blair and Alan Cummings.

The home side were now controlling affairs and when Simon Potter took a quick penalty the ball was swept wide for winger, Jonny Mills to crash over in the corner midway through the half. Lorcan McGrath missed out with the conversion but made amends when he guided over a penalty award five minutes later.

Dungannon were full worth for the 8-3 lead but were to be disappointed two minutes later when Jordan Patterson broke through the middle only to be denied by the referee’s whistle. A retort from a player brought a yellow card and Dungannon went down to 14 men.

That said, the home side kept the momentum going and were duly rewarded when McGrath fired over another penalty to leave it 11-3 at the break.

The second half was just as competitive as the first before outstanding lock, Adam Booth broke away to score a try that stretched the margin to 13 points. All credit to Coleraine they never gave up and posted a late try per Cameron Jinks and when McKnight converted the game ended 16-10.

Dungannon: Chris Blair, Jonny Mills, Alan Cummings, Jordan Patterson, Mark McFarland, Lorcan McGrath, Richard Wright, Owen Mallon, Steve Rea, Ali Moore, Adam Booth, Martin Devlin, Andrew Caddoo, Johnny Gordon, Simon Potter.