Malone battled to a bruising win against Old Wesley at Donnybrook on Saturday afternoon. The win leaves Malone two points clear at the top of AIL 1B.

Old Wesley edged the first half taking a 17 – 14 lead into the break thanks to tries from David Poff, and Cronan Gleeson. Rory Stynes converted both and added a penalty. Malone responded through a penalty try before Michael Shiels crossed for their second try, converted by Rory Campbell.

In a tense second half Malone were the only team to trouble the scoreboard with Adam McBurney bagging the winning try. Campbell converted and the Belfast side held on for a hard fought win.

OLD WESLEY: Rory Stynes; Tommy O’Callaghan, David Poff, James O’Donovan, Paul Harte (capt); Tom Clifford, Charlie O’Regan; Harry Noonan, Ben Burns, Cronan Gleeson, JJ O’Dea, Iain McGann, Darren Horan, Josh Pim, Paul Derham. Replacements: Andrew McCrann, Ciaran McHugh, Conor Barry, Alan Jeffares, Craig Miller.

MALONE: Jack Owens; Rory Campbell, Josh Pentland, Nathan Brown, Andy Bryans; Callum Smith, Graham Curtis; Ben Halliday, Adam McBurney, Ross Kane, Michael Shiels, Matthew Dalton, Dave Cave, Ross Todd (capt), Joe Dunleavy. Replacements: Dan Kerr, Ricky Greenwood, Ryan Clarke, Shane Kelly, Mark O’Connor.

GALLERY BELOW

Picture credit – Richard Owens.