Buccs edged out by Ulster outfit in thrilling try feast

BUCCANEERS and Dungannon served up an eight try scoring feast in their Ulster Bank League Division 1B encounter at Stevenson Park where the home side triumphed 28-25 at the end of a hugely entertaining contest on Saturday. Both teams contributed to a thoroughly entertaining affair in which the lead changed hands six times in a lively match played in fine conditions at this neat venue. Buccs had three changes from the previous weekend's defeat at Galwegians. Colin Watters was unavailable and Eoin Rooney made his first start at blindside flanker with Stephen Burke switching to openside. Shane Monahan returned in place of the injured Callum Boland on the right wing, while Conor Lavelle started on the left flank with Paul Harte moving to the centre in place of Jarrod Bennett. Dungannon fielded a relatively youthful side including a compact pack that featured none of their major Ulster stars. An Adam Kennedy penalty after just two minutes settled Buccs' nerves and their defence was decent as Dungannon applied some early pressure including a mazy Conor Gaston run. But the Ulster club suffered a setback when Michael Rainey's rashness at a ruck earned him a yellow card after 12 minutes. Buccs promptly endeavoured to make their temporary numerical superiority pay and Monahan's great charge down the right was stopped just short of the line when Ali Birch hung on for dear life to deny the big winger. However, Buccs recycled possession and the ball was moved from right to left where Lavelle hared in to touchdown but a try was not allowed as referee Darragh McCormack ruled the final pass forward. This decision was a matter of some debate afterwards. But Buccs continued to press forward and, with Dylan Rogers carrying good ball forward, the northerners were stretched and Rooney got in on the right for his first AIL try for Buccs. Kennedy converted to put the midlanders 10-0 ahead at the end of the opening quarter. Five minutes later, Dungannon opened their account when Kieran Campbell's clever diagonal kick was fastened onto by Michael Lawton to dive over near the right corner. It appeared the winger may have knocked on in grounding the ball but the referee, after consulting a touch judge, awarded the try which Lawton also converted. Michael Kirkwood made a fine break for Dungannon on the half-hour and the ball was again kicked diagonally to the right where Jack Carty made a great fetch but the referee harshly deemed he was offside and Lawton duly converted the penalty to level the scores. Despite a good break by Paul Harte, the score remained 10-10 at half-time. Dungannon restarted in spritely fashion with Gaston making good ground following a quickly tapped penalty while Chris Cochrane was stopped inside the Buccs 22. Buccs were guilty of not rolling away in the face of this early pressure and Lawton added a 45th penalty to give Dungannon the lead for the first time. Buccs replied in enterprising manner with Monahan and Harte combining in a move that saw Lavelle flick the ball inside when running out of space on the left and the supporting John O'Brien eased through for a 48th minute try. Almost immediately, Lavelle gave a most delightful dummy in the centre to hare in for another touchdown but the referee again denied the winger a score, this time signalling crossing. This certainly looked inexplicable but justice was done when Buccs turned over possession from the resultant scrum and the ball was moved smartly via Kennedy, Kolo Kiripati and Aidan Wynne to Monahan, who thundered in for a 52nd minute try wide on the right. Although Kennedy could not convert either try, Buccaneers now held a very promising 20-13 advantage. But Dungannon refused to wilt and they too demonstrated good handling in the lead up to Rowan Halsall's 59th minute try wide on the left. Buccs introduced David Connellan and Martin Staunton for Kennedy and Rogers as the game entered the final quarter, before Dungannon regained the lead on 67 minutes when Cochrane looped around the cover without a hand being laid on him for a rather soft score. Lawton missed both conversions to leave the game still finely balanced with the homesters 23-20 ahead. Buccaneers again demonstrated their intent with the impressive Monahan making another typical rampage that was carried on by substitute Staunton, who off-loaded to Garreth Halligan and the visitors' captain did very well to ground the ball for 73rd-minute try which Connellan failed to convert. This nosed Buccs 25-23 ahead and really they should have had the wherewithal to close out the game but the home back three, who had caused regular discomfort to the Athlone side, combined again to turn the tide with a late try. Cochrane looked certain to score four minutes from time but Monahan made up huge ground on the Ulster Ravens starlet to put in a try-saving tackle. However, Dungannon coolly recycled possession and Gaston got in for the match-winning try on the left. Although Lawton could not land the conversion, Dungannon held on in the face of spirited final flurry from Buccaneers to edge a narrow victory which earned them five points that surely secures their Division 1B status. Thus disappointment again for Buccs as they reverse last season's sequence of results, now suffering four defeats in succession. But they secured two bonus points (one losing and a second for scoring four tries) and retain second position in the hunt for promotion while extending their points advantage over third-placed Lansdowne to four with just two series of matches remaining. While the disallowed tries played a part in this setback, the most disappointing feature was Buccs 'inability to close out the game at two stages in the second half, primarily when they had secured their fourth try late in the match. Cool heads and more clinical play were sorely absent then. They did not maximise the amount of possession they had and, as one Pirate put it: "they had as much ball as Charlie McCreevey had cash but like him did not know what to do with it!" Nevertheless, this was a very spirited performance by Buccaneers, whose small panel have faced a tough sequence of consecutive matches and they will be glad of the three weeks break to regroup and recuperate before Dungannon visit Dubarry Park. Monahan and Lavelle shone in the backline while Conor Higgins and Kiripati led by example in the pack. SCORERS - Dungannon: M.Lawton (try, con & 2 pens), R.Halsall (try), C.Cochrane (try) & C.Gaston (try). Buccaneers: E.Rooney (try), J.O'Brien (try), S.Monahan (try), G.Halligan (try) & A.Kennedy (pen & con). DUNGANNON: C.Gaston; M.Lawton, P.Magee (captain), G.Telford, C.Cochrane; K.Campbell, M.Kirkwood; P.Whyte, A.Duhig, G.Sinnamon; M.Rainey, A.Fry; C.Threlfall, R.Halsall and A.Birch. Replacements used: S.McKenzie (for Rainey, 71 mins), B.Howard (for Whyte, 73) and D.Simpson (for Cochrane, inj. 75). BUCCANEERS: J.O'Brien; S.Monahan, P.Harte, A.Wynne, C.Lavelle; J.Carty, A.Kennedy; D.Rogers, G.Halligan (captain), C.Higgins; P. de Burca, C.Richardson; E.Rooney, S.Burke and K.Kiripati. Replacements used: A.Hayman (for Carty, inj. 30 mins), D.Connellan (for Kennedy, 62) and M.Staunton (for Rogers, 64). REFEREE: Darragh McCormack (Munster).