Instonians wrapped up the title with their 15th BP win of the season, Bruff are still in the fight for promotion, while at the bottom Sundays Well secured a big win over Omagh.
Bruff 15-13 Bangor, Kilballyowen Park,
Bruff bounced back from recent defeats to keep their promotion hunt alive as they narrowly edged past Bangor on Shannonside.
It was a low scoring opening half as the sides went it tied 3-3, with Paul Collins and Gareth Millar both landing penalties.
Into the second half and Bangor hit the front early as Declan Horrox crossed for their opening try which Millar converted for a 10-3 lead, Bruff had a quick response as Mark Fitzgerald got their opening try and Collins tied the game with the conversion.
Another penalty this time struck by Mark Widdowson put Bangor into a three point lead, before Bruff got the game winning score as a late try saw them snatch a two point win.
Clonmel 10-18 Skerries, Ardghaoithe
Skerries took second spot in the table as they got past a tough Clonmel side at the weekend.
An early exchange of penalties from Dylan Cadogan and Ronan Mulcahy saw the sides tied at 3-3, Skerries would however make the breakthrough before the break as a crossfield kick by Paul O’Loughlen found Davey Goodman and he got over for their try, conversion missed but the visitors led 8-3 at the break.
It took 12 minutes into the second half before Clonmel got back on the board but it was a crucial score as Andy Daly managed to power over but the conversion was successful and they now had the lead.
With seven minutes left Skerries would wrap up the tie, Mulcahy added a penalty for a one point margin while minutes later Sam Deering touched down from a rolling maul and O’Loughlen struck a beautiful conversion to wrap up another big win for the Goats.
Instonians 56-7 Ballina, Shaws Bridge
Instonians are deservedly champions of 2C as they managed a 15th bonus point win of the season with another high scoring win.
Zak Davidson got them on the board early with a converted try, but Ballian showed life early on and after charging down a clearance kick Billy McVann got over for the try as Ben Matheson levelled from the tee.
Instonians would enter full gear after that, Neil Saulter got their second try of the contest before Andrew McGrath and Rob Whitten wrapped up the bonus point early on, Saulter added a second try toward the end of the half as the hosts lead 35-7 at the break.
The league title was already secured from the BP, but they wanted to keep their record intact as the second half got underway, Schalk Van Der Merwe ran over their next try to further extend the lead before Matt Kilpatrick rounded off the afternoon with another try late on.
Midleton 24-17 Tullamore, Towns Park
Midelton secured a big win over Tullamore to put a gap between them and the drop zone.
Leading 14-3 at the break they controlled the tie from the off but had to endure a bruising second half, Ryan Lehane scored two tries with Mark Stanton getting the other, Stuart Lee converted all three tries and also added a penalty in the win.
Sundays Well 49-15 Omagh Academicals, Musgrave Park
Well secured just their third win of the season in an emphatic BP win over Omagh in Musgrave Park.
Four points now separates the two in the standings as the relegation battle heats up, Josh Kyle got over early for Omagh, but Eoin O’Sulllivan and Conor O’Brien both crashed over for tries which Jamie O’Leary converted to lead 14-8 at the break as Stuart Ballantine had landed an earlier penalty.
Into the second half and it was Omagh who drew first blood as Ballantine crossed for their second try which he also converted, Daniel Courtney would restore the Well lead as he grabbed their third try, just after that O’Sullivan got their bonus point try.
Well real came into the game from here on in and showed their quality, Gary Downey got over after finishing off a well thought out move, O’Leary bagged a try after having a strong day from the tee as he landed six conversions, the beat of which came from his try just on the touchline, Dan O’Brien added the final try as Cormac Kelliher took up kicking duties and nailed another beauty from the touchline.
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.