Corinthians pulled off a stunning opening day win at home to Rainey Old Boys, winning 34-33 in the Energia AIL Division 2B.
Winning 34-33, Corinthians enjoyed a perfect start with tries from Cian Huxford and Tomas Forde, converted by new outhalf Logan Allen.
Their opponents, who had been relegated from division 2A last season, soon found their feet and Mark Lee responded with a try with Scott McClean converting. The clock had barely touched 15 minutes when Allen kicked a penalty from near halfway, but in this see-sawing contest, Rainey, who had the bigger pack, responded when fullback Moli Faiva broke through to score, and McClean’s conversion reduced the gap back to three.
The home side, however, broke through before half-time when Peter Rainsford scored to leave eight between the teams, but with the elements favouring the visitors in the second half, there was a fear they would now take control through their dominant pack.
However, Corinthians never wilted and their backs stood up when asked. Seosaimh McDonagh’s try and Allen’s conversion provided a sense of belief, but as expected Rainey struck again after the home side had a try disallowed. Tomas O’Hagan drove through following continuous pressure and McClean’s conversion again left three between the teams.
Corinthians were not helped when losing Logan Allen to injury, but their hard work was rewarded when John Devine scored.
The visitors never gave up and were rewarded when Teigan Erasmus touched down and McClean converted, but in this final act it was not enough to prevent a huge victory for the home side.
Coach Harding said it was a great win and hard fought.
"The joy is that we have the bonus point win, but there are so many areas we can improve on.”
Next up is the local derby with Galwegians who lost their opening match to Dungannon.
Corinthians: T Forde, C Moylan, A Madden, J Devine, S McDonagh, L Allen, P Rainsford. P Fahy, J Noone, F Barrett, J Gannon, G Kilkelly, E Coyle, C Huxford (C ), M Boyle.Replacements: A Nash, M Conneely, A O’Loughlin, M Devine, H Rodgers.
Rainey Old Boys: M Faiva, N Jeffers, A Brown, G Hall, J Hastings, S McClean, A Donaghy. T O’Hagan (C ), D O’Neill, F Quinn, J McCusker, R McCusker, M McCusker, A Montgomery, C Smyth. Replacements: M Nevin, A McSwiggan, M Lee, T Erasmus, C Devlin.
