Dungannon plan built around ‘momentum and taking little steps’

​Jonny Gillespie’s side travelled to Gibson Park level with their hosts on top of the table on 10 points – and prevailed with a 27-10 after two late tries.

Armagh had already won group B and made it a maximum 15 points from three games with a bonus point victory at home over Banbridge.

Gillespie was happy to win all three games, building momentum going into the All Ireland League, which starts on Saturday week.

“We are just trying to get guys game time, it has fallen nicely as a sequence...we have played good teams and had good performances and I am content,” said Gillespie. “Malone will be miles better whenever we play them in the AIL, it is just about building momentum and taking little steps and just finding ways of keep getting better.

“We are not reading too much into it because every club is in a slightly different place, we were in a different place last year and got a few 40-pointers put on us, so we knew it wasn’t a fair reflection of where we were at.

“We are very respectful that clubs are rotating and holding boys back, it is nice to get wins but we are not reading too much into it.

“I was really pleased with the defensive aspect (against Malone), a little bit placid in attack, I thought we tried to play in front of them without going through them.

“In the second half, through our broken field running we were quite dangerous, we knew if we could keep the score tight or stay slightly in front of them until 60 minutes generally somebody can do something out of nothing.

“I wouldn’t say I’m pleased with our attack but content it is going in the right direction.”

Despite three wins and 14 points out of a possible 15 Gillespie knows there is still a lot of work to do before the AIL.

“I would say there is a lot to work on, we are trying to develop younger players,” he said. “And we know that is going to cost us a little bit, especially at set piece times...there is ongoing understanding and development at set piece time.

“That is the third time our centres have played together, that is the third time our half backs have played together...so there is a lot of tweaking and understanding that we need to generate and get our attack principles right.

“The challenge for us is can we keep getting better?

"We know Malahide at home in two weeks is going to be a huge challenge, but we are looking forward to it, the attitude of the players has been exceptional and that is where these wins come from...a lot of it is down to the desire of the player group.”

Dungannon led 13-10 at the break as Sean O’Hagan’s try was converted by Ben McCaughey and the full back added two penalties. Malone replied with unconverted tries from wingers David McMaster and Michael Mellive.

McCaughey landed a penalty after the restart before late tries from Alex Johnson and James Girvan sealed the Gannon victory.

Ballynahinch beat Queen’s 36-0.

In group B, Armagh won 40-21 against Banbridge while David Whitten was the man-of-the-match for Instonians, grabbing a try in a 42-21 win at Rainey.

In Division Two, there were wins for Belfast Harlequins and Clogher Valley.