Instonains furthered their lead at the top of the standings, while a win for bottom placed Dolphin has the race for safety getting more intense week after week.
Galway Corinthians (2T) 10-7 Sligo (1T), Corinthian Park
Galway Corinthians continued their winning streak with a narrow win over Sligo, the visitors left frustrated by a scoreless second half.
Corinthians struck first blood in the Friday evening contest, Adam Nash powering over for an unconverted try. Sligo would soon hit the break as Hubert Gilvarry danced his way past the Corinthians rear guard to dot down under the posts. Euan Brown added the extras for a 7-5 lead.
The Tribesmen continued to put some serious pressure on the Sligo line and when Michéal O’Reilly crossed to the right of the posts, they had their lead 10-7 as the conversion missed the mark.
A second half that was nip and tuck throughout, Sligo left frustrated as despite having chances they could not overturn the deficit once again in similar fashion to their defeat just before Christmas, another frustrating defeat for the Sligo men.
Belfast Harlequins (4T) 26-32 Instonians (6T), Deramore Park
Instonians continued their unbeaten run in the AIL, they were however certainly made to work hard to get past a stern test in this Belfast derby.
Cole Blyde made it an ideal start for the hosts, crossing for an early try as he danced past a host of Instonians tackles, Charlie Beattie striking the conversion for a 7-0 lead. Instonians rallied back soon after, Oli Clarke crossed to narrow the gap to two points as the conversion struck the post.
Bradley McNamara with some fancy footwork crossed in the corner for a lead the visitors would never let slip minutes later and the lead was 10-7. Alan Whitten further the visitors chances with a third try and Matthew Keane dissected the posts with the conversion which followed.
Stones in bonus point territory and with a terrific phase of play through the hands Keane went over out wide, the conversion again missed the mark, Stones ahead 22-7. Clarke added his second try just before the break and Instonians took a 27-7 lead to the interval.
Tom Morris gave Quins the ideal start to the second half as he crossed for their second try with the conversion cutting the gap further. Mark Glover broke free through the midfield and crossed the whitewash, a third converted try by the hosts cut the gap to six points, 27-21.
As Quins applied the pressure, Simon McMaster got Instonians back on the board, a much needed score in the second half as the hosts certainly had most of the confidence. The effort was unconverted and pressure was back a short time later with Quins getting their bonus point try, Tom McAllister pumping the legs from close range to dot down.
With the score at 32-26, it was a big final few minutes for Instonians to hang in there to preserve their unbeaten run, Harlequins tested them in those final minutes but time and the scoreboard was on the side of the visitors as their streak continued.
Dolphin (4T) 29-19 Malahide (3T), Virgin Media Park
Playing their first game in the newly named Virgin Media Park, Dolphin managed a big result to defeat Malahide and end a three game losing streak in the process.
Dolphin remain bottom, however three teams all deadlocked on 15 points, plenty of drama is instore in the race for safety. The Cork side showed their grit and determination to test Malahide and built up a 19-7 lead by the break.
Cameron O’Shaughnessy crossed for a brace of tries in the contest, while John Fitzgerald and Philip Dowling also crossed for tries to secure the bonus point. Daryl Foley kicked three conversions and a penalty, a big influence to ensure Dolphin had those important extra points to keep Malahide at bay.
While Malahide added three tries in the contest, it did little to change the outcome, they levelled matters early on but Dolphin struck twice more before the break. In the second half, their two tries kept pressure on but Dolphin just had the willpower to see out proceedings.
Dungannon (3T) 21-8 Rainey (1T), Stevenson Park
Dungannon returned to winning ways, making up for their 27-16 defeat to Rainey before the break with a strong performance on home soil.
Gannon dominated the early action and with 12 minutes elapsed James Gamble powered his way over for the games opening try. Jacob Clarke adding the extras. The hosts doubled their lead with 25 minutes gone in the opening half, Clarke this time on the try scoring front before adding the conversion to his own try for a 14-0 lead. Scott McLean struck a penalty on the half hour mark to get Rainey on the board, they would trail by a 14-3 margin at the interval.
As the second half rumbled on, chances came for both teams but in a largely cagey opening 20 minutes, neither team could change the score line. Just after the hour mark Andrew McGregor added a third Dungannon try, with Clarke on hand to kick the extras. Rainey fought till the very end and struck a late consolation try through Ethan Canavan.
Skerries (0T) 0-40 Wanderers (6T), Holmpatrick
Wanderers scored six tries in a one sided Dublin Derby win over Skerries, in turn closing the gap to Corinthians in second place to a single point.
The visitors hit the break through Mick McGrath crossing early and David Fitzgibbon added the extras. Popoai Finau doubled the lead a short while later as Fitzgibbon remained accurate from the tee. Val McDermott added a third try before the break as Wanderers had a 19–0 cushion at the interval.
Stephen Dunne added the bonus bonus try soon after the restart, the Chaps were showing utter dominance to proceedings. Further tries from Sean Goodburn and a second from Finau wrapped up the contest, Fitzgibbon converting all three second half tries.
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Diarmuid Kearney
Diarmuid Kearney is a freelance Sports Journalist based in Co Kerry. He has more than 5 years experience covering domestic and international soccer for different media organisations, while also working for local and national print and digital organisations covering GAA.