It was an exciting weekend in the AIL for Ulster’s senior Clubs as they continue to dominate the top half of the table.
With Buccaneers defeating local rivals Galwegians on Friday night league leaders Ballynahinch knew they needed to won away to UL Bohs on Saturday afternoon if they were to be in top spot at the end of the weekend. Despite racing to a 17 – 3 lead at the break, with tries from James Thompson and Stuart Morrow, converted by James Lash who also added a penalty, Hinch were desperately holding on at the end as Boh’s stormed back to within a point.
A second Lash penalty in the second half opened up enough of a gap for the visitors to hold on.
Ballymena, placed joint to before weekend, suffered an emphatic defeat at home to visitors Dungannon, with the Stevenson Park outfit recording double delight through securing a bonus point win. Dungannon’s tries came from Chris Cochrane, Stewart McCloskey, Ali Birch and Conor Gaston with Michael Lawton adding a further 19 points from the boot.
Ballymena responded with a try from Roger McBurney and a conversion and penalty from the boot of John Semple but the home side were completely overwhelmed in the second half with Semple adding a solitary penalty in reply to Dungannon’s 23 point spree. The win moves Dungannon into second place in the league with Ballymena dropping to fifth.
Belfast Harlequins wrapped up the bonus points in the first half in their match against UCD to move to fourth in the league with the Belfast side now only three points of the top. A brace of tries from Neil McComb and Stuart Olding were enough to secure the points for Quin’s with Lawrence Bebe adding a fifth.
Quins Ian Porter added fourteen points from the boot to keep the visitors well in control throughout the game.
AIL 1B Results.
UL Bohemians 16 – 20 Ballynahinch
Ballynahinch: Tries: James Thompson, Stuart Morrow. Cons: James Lash 2. Pens: James Lash 2
HT: UL Bohemians 3 Ballynahinch 17
Ballymena 13 – 39 Dungannon
Scorers: Ballymena: Try: Roger McBurney. Con: John Semple. Pens: John Semple 2
Dungannon: Tries: Chris Cochrane, Stuart McCloskey, Ali Birch, Conor Gaston. Cons: Michael Lawton 2. Pens: Michael Lawton 5
HT: Ballymena 6 Dungannon 16
UCD 22 – 39 Belfast Harlequins
Belfast Harlequins: Tries: Neil McComb 2, Stuart Olding 2, Lawrence Babe. Cons: Ian Porter 4. Pens: Ian Porter 2
HT: UCD 10 Belfast Harlequins 32
Buccaneers 12 – 6 Galwegians
Bruff 22 – 18 UCC
AIL1B League Table.
| Pos | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | Diff | TB | LB | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Ballynahinch | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 194 | 135 | 59 | 2 | 2 | 30 |
| 2 |  |
Dungannon | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 226 | 168 | 58 | 6 | 3 | 29 |
| 3 | |
Buccaneers | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 169 | 130 | 39 | 1 | 2 | 29 |
| 4 | |
Belfast Harlequins | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 180 | 147 | 33 | 2 | 1 | 27 |
| 5 |  |
Ballymena | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 144 | 144 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 26 |
| 6 | |
U.L. Bohemian | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 149 | 148 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 20 |
| 7 | |
UCD | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 165 | 199 | -34 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| 8 | |
Galwegians | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 186 | 216 | -30 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| 9 | |
Bruff | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 130 | 178 | -48 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| 10 | |
U.C.C. | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 134 | 212 | -78 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
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