It was a fantastic weekend for all four Ulster sides in the AIL1B with all four teams recording wins, with Dungannon and Ballymena picking up the bonus points.
It also wasn’t bad for yours truly who also bagged £78.16 from Messrs Paddy Power (more of them later this week) by placing some canny bets on the Ulster sides in AIL1B!
Ballynahinch, who moved into top spot mid week following Buccaners being deducted 2 points for fielding an ineligible player, managed to hold on to the top of the table thanks to a home win over Bruff.
Tries from Aaron Ferris, Robin Harte and David Nicholson, plus a James Lash conversion, were enough to see Hinch home though the Ballymacarn outfit will be disappointed not to have picked up a try bonus despite ending a low scoring first half only 5 – 0 up.
The lack of bonus point for Hinch allowed Ballymena to get within one point of top spot with the Braid men recording another impressive away win, this time at UL Bohs. Tries from Joel Andrew, Ricky Andrew, Alisdair Frazer and Richard Aingworth secured the bonus point with John Semple adding 2 conversions, a penalty and drop goal to take the final score in Limerick to 13 – 30 in favour of the Ulster side.
Ballymena’s impressive march up the table into second place gives the league a nice one, two , three for Ulster sides with Dungannon’s bonus point win at home against UCC slipping them into third place with the the Stevenson Park outfit now only four points of the lead after a shaky enough start to their AIL campaign.
Tries from Stuart McCloskey, Ali Birch, Chris Cochrane and Conor Gaston were a fine reward for Dungannon’s dominance and Jaryd Bennett chipped in with two conversions and a penalty.
Despite starting to string together some form Dungannon can thank their Ulster rivals Belfast Harlequins for their lofty position with Quins grinding out an impressive 19 – 14 win against Buccaneers.
Rory Scholes scored the only try for the home side and Quins have Michael Heaney to thank, in blustery conditions, for his impressive tally of one conversion and four penalties.
The result moves Quins up to fifth place putting all Ulster sides in the top half of the table with six points separating the four Ulster sides in what is becoming an exciting and intriguing league this season!
[Still waiting for some squad details. I'll add them later when available.]
Results and Scorers.
BALLYNAHINCH 17 – 3 BRUFF
Ballynahinch Scorers: Tries: Aaron Ferris, Robin Harte, David Nicholson; Con: James Lash
Ballynahinch: David Nicholson; Robin Harte, Stuart Morrow, James Thompson, Aaron Ferris; James Lash, Harry McAleese; Chris Stevenson, Neil Hanna, Jonny Simpson, Lewis Stevenson, Chris Napier, Jonny Madden, James Simpson, Johnny Graham, Aaron Cairns, David Steele, Brian Mannus, Mark McCormick, Kyle McCall.
BELFAST HARLEQUINS 19 – 14 BUCCANEERS
Belfast Harlequins Scorers: Try: Rory Scholes; Con: Michael Heaney; Pens: Michael Heaney 4
Belfast Harlequins:
DUNGANNON 27 – 14 UCC
Dungannon Scorers: Tries: Stuart McCloskey, Ali Birch, Chris Cochrane, Conor Gaston. Cons: Jaryd Bennett 2. Pen: Jaryd Bennett
Dungannon:
UL BOHEMIANS 13 – 30 BALLYMENA
Ballymena Scorers: Tries: Joel Andrew, Ricky Andrew, Alisdair Frazer, Richard Aingworth; Cons: John Semple 2; Pen: John Semple; Drop: John Semple
Ballymena:
With Galwegians recording a 26 – 13 win away to UCD the league table is as follows:
| Pos | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | Diff | TB | LB | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Ballynahinch | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 150 | 92 | 58 | 2 | 1 | 23 |
| 2 |  |
Ballymena | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 125 | 93 | 32 | 3 | 1 | 22 |
| 3 | |
Dungannon | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 139 | 107 | 32 | 4 | 3 | 19 |
| 4 |  |
Buccaneers | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 106 | 82 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 19 |
| 5 | |
Belfast Harlequins | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 126 | 115 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| 6 | |
U.L. Bohemian | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 89 | 82 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| 7 | |
UCD | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 98 | 119 | -21 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| 8 | |
Galwegians | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 117 | 162 | -45 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 9 | |
Bruff | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 83 | 126 | -43 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 10 | |
U.C.C. | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 76 | 131 | -55 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
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