Instonians will join their “clubmates” Cooke RFC in the Junior Cup Semi Finals after beating a determined Ballyclare 28 -17 at Shaw’s Bridge on New Year’s Eve in front of a good sized crowd.

It was a dour enough opening half hour, Ballyclare enjoyed the lion’s share of territory and possession but the defences were on top in the early stages and few chances were created.

As happens in tight games, it took a bobbled pass by Instonians’ Davy Scott to open the Ballyclare defence from deep in his own half. Scott took it on to halfway before unleashing Bevan Prinsloo who sprinted clear to finish under the posts. Ricky McCarthy added the extras and Instonians had an unlikely 7 – 0 lead just past the half hour mark.