Corinthians 15 Dungannon 14
A SECOND Half penalty from Sean Naughton proved to be decisive in this thrilling Energia League tie played in Stevenson Park on Saturday afternoon. It was a win that could prove crucial as we move towards the reverse fixtures after Christmas and proved that while Corinthians showed that they could turn on the style when needed, Saturday proved that they could eke out the tough wins also.
Corinthians opened the scoring with a try from Finn McNulty with fourteen minutes gone on the clock. Joey Tierney was to the fore on this one. His pass found John Devine who cut through the cover with ease before passing to McNulty to finish.
Dungannon responded with a try from Cameron Steenson converted by James Gamble in the following minutes and it was a message of intent from the Ulster side and a signal that Corinthians were going to have to work very hard if they were to win this game.
With chances at a minimum and conditions making playing difficult, it would take a moment of magic from Finn McNulty to restore the visitors’ lead. The move started with a maul inside the opposition 22, that went through the phases. Tierney passed to Harry Rogers who in turn had Orin Burke in support. Burke cut an outstanding line with Naughton on the loop and McNulty was on the end to score an outstanding try.
With Naughton kicking the conversion, Corinthians would go five points ahead coming up to Half Time.
However, the whistle had barely left the mouth of referee Johnny Quinn when the home side hit back with a try. This one came from their number eight James McMahon and with Gamble kicking his second conversion of the day, it did not look good.
It was here where character was on show and a penalty from Naughton fifteen minutes into the second half would incredibly be the last score of the game and would give Corinthians the lead once more. The out half nailing the kick from in front of the posts outside the Dungannon 22’.
From there on it was a battle, Dungannon pushing for the score that might have won the game but found Corinthians’ defence impossible to break down. The performance of the front three in Patrick Fahy, Adam Nash and Raymond Dufficy was inspired and they were supported by the rest of the pack who refused to give way under pressure.
Numerous times Dungannon probed and numerous times they were repelled. Mark Boyle was once again immense at number eight while at the back, every single player put their bodies on the line to secure what could be a very important win and keep Corinthians second in the Energia League with just two games left before the Christmas Break.
Corinthians Director of Rugby Michael Harding was happy with the result when speaking after the game. “We are delighted with the result. Happy to come away from Dungannon with the win. There were a couple of stages where we went close for more tries but in saying that the lads also had to dig in to get that result.
“Dungannon came at us hard, but we scored two wonderful tries and kicked the penalty goal when we had, to win the game. We were also held up over the line after the maul in the second half as well.”
Harding added that the changes that had to be made, made them even more proud to come away with the result. “There were a lot of changes in the team this week with two lads making their debuts and another guy back after a long injury. We were very proud to get the result, get the win and we now move on to our last home game of the year next weekend when we welcome Rainey and I am looking forward to it.”
Next up for Corinthians is that home game with Rainey Old Boys on Saturday, which will be the last home game before Christmas. To mark this occasion, the club will be holding its pre match Christmas Lunch at the clubhouse. Following the game, The club will also be honouring its team of the 1970s. Voting has been ongoing over the past two weeks on their social media channels and the results will be announced following the game on Saturday afternoon at approximately 6pm ahead of the Seconds game with Corrib that kicks off at 7.30pm.
Corinthians: O Burke, M O’Reilly, H Rogers, J Devine, F McNulty, S Naughton, J Tierney. P Fahy, A Nashm R Dufficy, R Glynn, R Janse Van Rensburg, G Kilkelly, M Flynn, M Boyle.
Replacements: D Fitzpatrick, A Burke, O Garcia, T Farthing, T Waters.
