Assistant coach Louis Ludik hails clinical Instonians after big Belfast derby success over Queen's at Dub
Assistant coach Louis Ludik was delighted as Instonians scored three tries in each half to beat Belfast neighbours Queen’s at the Dub in the Division 1B derby.
Inst remain second in the table but have closed the gap on leaders Old Wesley to a solidarity point.
“We are very happy,” said former Ulster full-back Ludik. “In the first 60 we struggled to get our stride and we were slow to get started.
"As soon as we got our momentum we scored a couple of good tries, it is five points and we move on.
“That’s the name of the game – being clinical when you have those opportunities. In the first half we had a few more and just couldn’t convert them, I think we were held up twice and not as clinical as we should have been in the first half.
“In this league you need to be clinical and that is the main thing that we have learned so far because when you miss opportunities, they don’t come again so we have to take them.”
Despite scoring three tries in the first half Inst had to wait until the last 10 minutes to seal their bonus point.
“Queen’s brought a bit of line speed, especially in the second half and we made it difficult for ourselves,” said Ludik.
"We were quite static in attack and a lot of the times I thought that we were too flat, so we didn’t get pace on the ball, and we were quite stuck in the first 20 minutes of the second half.
“We know that when they get going with ball in hand, they are quite difficult to stop. I thought our defence was good but in attack we were a bit flat-footed at times.
“The main thing is to hit the ball with pace when you get it and a couple of times, they made it difficult in the second half with their line speed.
“We have some great individuals with great talent and whenever the guys get a bit of space they can free their hands and look for the offload.
"We love seeing that from the guys and we have such good players that whenever they get to express themselves and get behind the gain line, and look for those offloads, that when we are dangerous.
“It is great to see the confidence raised for me – that is great to watch.”
Instonians have a big December coming up with AIL fixtures against Blackrock and Armagh before the Senior Cup final against Ballynahinch.
“It is a very tough block, we have Blackrock on Saturday which will be tough, Armagh away will be difficult and then the final which we are looking forward to at Ravenhill, but the next two games are going to be difficult, and we’ll plan for them,” said the Inst assistant coach.
Neil Saulters, Ruairi O’Farrell, Bradley McNamara, Mark Keane, Mark Lee and Bevan Prinsloo got the Inst tries.
Armagh are up to fourth after scoring seven tries in a 47-33 win over Naas at the Palace Grounds.
Ulster hooker James McCormick got a brace, Noah Bell, Nick Murray, Shea O’Brien and Josh McKinley also touched down and the home side were awarded a penalty try.
In Division 1A Ballynahinch lost 18-10 at Lansdowne.
In 2A Dungannon beat Ulster rivals Banbridge 28-25 at Rifle Park, Ballymena lost 41-16 at Barnhall.
There were wins for Clogher Valley in Division 2B but Malone lost while in 2C Ballyclare and Belfast Harlequins both lost.