INSTONIANS 92 BUCCANEERS 21
On the afternoon they were presented with the Energia All-Ireland League Division 2A trophy, Instonians turned on the style against a weak Buccaneers squad in front of a big crowd at sun-drenched Shaws Bridge on Saturday. The champions put the Pirates to the sword by 92-21 with a swash-buckling display, scoring 14 tries in the process that added to the celebratory mood at the Belfast ground.
The home side made two changes from the starting XV that was ambushed by Ballymena last week. James Clark and Glen Faloon returned in the backline and both made impacts, contributing 4 tries. Meanwhile, Buccs adversities continued right to the final fixture with Ryan O’Meara, Cathal Walsh and Fionn McDonnell the latest to join Fergus Galvin and others out through injuries. In a rejigged pack, Reece Henderson, Cian Daly and Oisin Dolan returned.
On a very firm surface, Instonians got off to a flyer scoring two converted tries inside the opening 5 minutes. Josh Eagleson finished off a slick counter attack on 2 minutes and, when Buccs lost possession in midfield 3 minutes later, David Whitten romped in for their second try. Assisted by the chilly breeze, Buccs responded and following a penalty to the right a fine lineout move sent Orrin Burgess in for a 9th minute try converted by Gearoid McDonald.
Instonians replied in similar fashion, Clark crashing through for a 13th minute try. But Buccs struck back and Burgess finished off another good attack to notch his second try 2 minutes later. Then on 24 minutes, Buccaneers disrupted the homesters inside their 22 and Dolan dived over for a try. McDonald converted both to tie the scores at 21-21.
The Ulster side regained their momentum following a 29th minute maul with Bevan Prinsloo applying the finishing touch to secure a bonus point try. 3 minutes later he broke from halfway and had the strength to hold off a couple of tacklers for his second. From the restart David Whitten strode forward and exchanged passes before touching down while swift handling in the final move of the half saw Faloon notch his first try. This left Instonians 45-21 ahead at half-time.
Buccs dominated for a ten minutes spell after the change of ends and Frankie Hopkins was tackled just short of the home line. But this period of good pressure yielded no reward before Instonians added to their tally in somewhat controversial circumstances. Harry Balsiger was high-tackled and Buccs subsequently lost possession but the referee allowed play continue that led to a mauled try by Oli Clark. This 54th minute high tackle should have resulted in a penalty for the visitors and very likely a yellow card for the offender!
Two minutes later quick hands found space for Faloon to grab his second try and from thereon it was one way traffic as the midlanders wilted in the sun. Substitutes Schalk van der Merwe and Andrew Keane were the next try scorers while a quickly tapped penalty by Prinsloo caught Buccs napping as he eased in to score. Debutant Atrio Abono replaced James Kelly and was instantly yellow-carded for a high tackle. This could likely be the shortest ever appearance in the AIL.
Faloon and Prinsloo completed hat-tricks to add further misery for the now depleted patched-up Pirates. Eagleson landed 11 conversions in the champions 92-21 scoreline. This was a very difficult end to an equally disappointing and luckless season for Buccaneers squad and mentors. The players generally gave it their all but many lacked size and experience. Hopefully the experiences will be of benefit next season when they will regroup and bid for an immediate return to 2A.
INSTONIANS:- M.Keane; G.Faloon, B.Prinsloo, J.Clark, H.Ellerby; J.Eagleson, C.McGrath; A.Lupari, N.Saulters, L.Kaprigiannis; M.Voster, R.Whitten; A.McGrath, M.Preston and D.Whitten (captain). Replacements used:- O.Clark, S.van der Merwe, A.Burke, J.Parkinson and A.Keane.
BUCCANEERS:- J.Nagle; H.Hughes, R.Murphy-Sweeney, O.Burgess, H.Balsiger; G.McDonald, F.Hopkins (captain); R.Henderson, M.Victory, J.Kelly; L.d’Ambola Riera, L.Balsiger; C.Daly, O.Dolan and R.Byrne. Replacements:- C.Byrne (for L.Balsiger, 28 mins), C.Brill (for Dolan, 54 mins), D.Colgan (for McDonald, 64 mins), A.Flanagan (for H.Balsiger, 67 mins) and A.M.Abono (for Kelly, 71 mins).
Referee:- Andrew Munce (IRFU).
