Lurgan 8 Dromore 55

Man of the match, Chris Leathem, opened the scoring with the first of his hat trick which John Russell superbly converted from the touchline.

Sam Russell then outpaced the Lurgan defence for another quick try to put Dromore 12-0 up and ease the nerves of the Dromore supporters.

Lurgan’s scrum half gave the home side some hope when he showed his pace to score in the corner. Sam Russell then added a further try and this was quickly followed by another Leathem try to put Dromore 26-5 up before the break.

Dromore captain Harshaw barged over on the whistle of half time to leave the scores 33-5.

Dromore replaced Aaron Steenson at half time with Stephen Robinson and the big forward added to the pack’s dominance. Lurgan fought bravely on but Dromore showed their superiority by adding further tries from Leathem, Stuart Russell, Bekker and Allen with a lone penalty from Lugan’s Nolan their only score of the half to leave the final score 55-8 at the final whistle.

Dromore outscored their hosts nine tries to one and John Russell showed his potential with the kicking duties converting five out of nine.

Coach Benade was pleased and said, “We made a few changes to our starting lineup today partly to give boys a game and partly to rest a few niggling injuries to Brigl and Mackey. Our physio Erin Creighton will be busy in the next week getting boys ready for our league match next week against Clougher Valley but today I’m happy with the cup win against a spirited Lurgan side.”

Dromore now move into a busy period of League matches with a double header against Clougher Valley home and away over the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, Kyle Copeland’s Dromore Seconds had a fine win against a determined Bangor outfit, edging the contest 16-13 to keep their league hopes alive.