Instonians remain unbeaten after another great display at the weekend, while Tullamore and Skerries both make ground at the top half of the table.
Ballina 19-33 Instonians, Heffernan Park
Instonians remained unbeaten for the fourth successive weekend as they recorded a bonus point victory over Ballina. Leading 12-0 at the break, early tries from Mark Mairs and Ruari O’Farrell gave them the advantage.
Rhys O’Donnell and Matthew Keane added two further tries to begin the second half with a flurry as they went 26-0 clear of their opponents.
Ballina notched a converted try to reduce the deficit, however hooker Neil Saulters crossed for the fifth Instonians try for a 33-7 lead. After a red card for Instonians Ballina used the extra man advantage to add two late consolation tries.
Bangor 17-11 Bruff, Saturday Oct 29th, Upritchard Park, 2:30pm
Bangor bounced back to return to winning ways, albeit a narrow victory over a game Bruff outfit. Bruff added an early unconverted try as they looked to inflict more woe on Bangor.
The hosts would get over for a try and the conversion helped them into a 7-5 lead by the interval. Bangor were reduced to 14 men for a high tackle, as Bruff went 8-7 ahead as a result.
Bangor would reply with two tries to lead 17-8 toward the latter stages of the second half, however Bruff added a late three pointer to lead the Ulster province with a valuable losing bonus point.
Omagh Academicals 19-10 Sundays Well, Thomas Mellon Playing Fields, 2:30pm
Omagh looked one step ahead of Sundays Well as they recorded their second consecutive home win of the season.
Tries a plenty early on as they pulled out a 7-3 lead before adding a second try under the posts to pull 14-3 clear.
Well would respond with a try of their own, but an unconverted try by Deane Keane gave the hosts the points.
Skerries 43-21 Clonmel, Saturday Oct 29th, Holmpatrick, 2:30pm
Skerries produced a high scoring bonus point win over Clonmel, to move them up into fourth in the AIL 2C table after crossing for seven tries in a dominant display.
The tie was dramatic and entertaining, both scoring three tries in the opening half to tie the game 21-21 at the interval.
Skerries were sharp after the restart, Barry Murphy adding the bonus point try before Ruairi Woods added another for a 33-21 lead. Two further tries served as the icing on the cake, as they recorded a third win in four games.
Tullamore 20-12 Midleton, Saturday Oct 29th, Spollanstown, 2:30pm
Tullamore needed a big second half revival to remain third in the table, as they got the better of Midelton at the weekend.
Signs were on for Midleton as they commanded the opening half to lead 12-6 at the break, however each side won a half, for Tullamore it was to be the second a great display saw them get over for the crucial scores as Midelton had no reply.
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.