Instonians winning streak crosses the 25 game mark after their exploits at the weekend, Galway Corinthians and Wanderers keep the pressure just behind. Elsewhere Skerries produced an incredible result to move out of the bottom two places.
Sligo (3T) 21-20 Belfast Harlequins (3T), Hamilton Park
Sligo picked up important points from an energy sapping contest against Belfast Harlequins, captain Matthew Earley crossing twice as the Westerners won by the minimum.
Charlie Beattie gave the visitors the lead from the tee, Earley soon cancelled it out with the game’s opening try and Euan Brown converted for a 7-3 lead. Henry Boyle replied for Harlequins, Beatie unable to add the full seven to the board. Sligo would lead 14-8 going into the break, Daire Byrne getting over and Brown landed the extras on offer.
Earley added his second try with 50 minutes on the board in the second half, Brown again composed to kick the crucial extras. Harlequins struck back Ryan McNeill powering over under the posts and Beattie made it 21-15 from the tee. The Ulster side did strike a third try which went unconverted, Sligo held firm in the final minutes to take the win.
Instonians (9T) 59-10 Malahide (1T), Shaws Bridge
Instonians made it 25 bonus point wins in succession following a dominant showing over Malahide.
Bevan Prinsloo was a man in form and bagged the first of three tries early on to give the hosts a 7-0 lead after Ritchie McMaster struck from the tee. Malahide would however fight back and through a penalty and converted try took the lead 10-7. Back came the relentless nature of the hosts and Oli Clarke powered over from a driving maul and McMaster added the extras for a 14-10 lead. Before the break Prinsloo added his second try before the bonus point was added by Gary Dillon, McMaster one from two as the hosts were ahead 26-10 at the break.
Into the second half and Instonians kept the pressure applied with David Whitten, Clarke and Prinsloo all added tries to build up a 47-10 lead, McMaster added the first conversion before Matthew Keane assumed duties for the latter two. Instonians capped off the result with late tries from Simon McMaster and Jack Parkinson.
Rainey Old Boys (4T) 28-47 Skerries (6T), Hatrick Park
One for the match of the year contenders as Skerries produced a stunning result on the road to move them out of the bottom two places.
Rainey would strike early with Daniel O’Neill crossing for the opening try converted by Scott McLean. In the home of hat trick’s, Skerries captain Kevin McGrath crossed for three tries and with Ronan Mulcahy adding the extras for two of those, the lead was 19-7. Mulcahy added the bonus point try soon after, Rainey did reply through Moli Faiva adding a converted try by McLean, Ross Halligan immediately replied for Skerries a fifth try and a 31-14 lead for the Goats.
Mulcahy stretched the lead to 34-14 from the tee before he was summoned to convert Peter O’Neill’s try, Skerries were cruising with a 41-14 margin. Mulcahy made it 44-14 with another penalty, Rainey hit back with Faiva and Aidan McSwiggan crossing for converted tries to take the bonus point, Mulcahy put the icing on the cake with another penalty to seal a huge result for the seasiders.
Wanderers (7T) 47-7 Dolphin (1T), Merrion Road
Wanderers kept their strong start to the campaign hoping to keep on track for the promotion play-off spots with a strong result over Dolphin.
It was all the way of the hosts in the opening half, five tries on the board helping the Chaps build a 33-0 margin by the break. Into the second half Dolphin went over through Cam O’Shaughnessy for their opening score but Wanderers kept up their exploits.
Conor McQuid added the sixth try soon after and with the final play of the contest they added the seventh and will certainly look to continue this form heading into the final weeks.
Dungannon (2T) 14-15 Galway Corinthians (2T), Stevenson Park
Finn McNulty was the star of the show for Corinthians as his two tries saw the Galway side remain second after a narrow win over Dungannon.
McNulty crossed early for a 5-0 lead but Dunagnnon soon hit back as Matthew Montgomery struck their opening try. McNulty soon added his second try and the lead at the break was 12-5 following Sean Naughton’s conversion.
Naughton added a second half penalty and despite Dungannon adding seven to the board to cut the gap to one, the Tribesmen held firm for the result.
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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.