Instonians preserve impeccable home form as they rally to edge out Highfield

Paul Pritchard’s side trialled 15-7 with 10 minutes remaining but a Bradley McNamara converted try and Ruairi O’Farrell’s penalty preserved Instonians proud home record.

However, they had to survive a late scare as Highfield outhalf Shane O’Riordan missed a long range drop goal with the final kick of the game.

“We stuck at the task and then we got the win at the end, we didn't really put our heads down, we just kept on fighting and fighting,” Pritchard said.

“I said to the boys after it...the best thing for us was that we just kept throwing punches, even though it wasn't going well for us, we kept on trying to have a go, we didn't go into our shells, that's outstanding, we're really happy with that.

“I think we sort of looked at them as a typical big Munster team and we sort of thought that they would tire a little bit, we just kept going at them and that's the key thing.”

Trailing 15-14 with three minutes left Inst forced a penalty in front of the posts and Highfield received a yellow card and Pritchard had no qualms about kicking for goal.

He also voiced his happiness to keep the home record intact.

He explained: “I actually thought we might have taken the scrum there, but I'm glad we didn't, you've just got to get wins. This is a really difficult league, this will be a big four points, so we're happy with that.

“It sort of crossed my mind during the game, I sort of thought maybe it was going to be 29 and done.

“We haven't really spoken about that, but we've sort of tried to make this place as much of a fortress as we can.

“We're really happy and proud of that and hopefully we can keep that going.”

After a week’s break, Instonians make the trip to near neighbours Queen’s and Pritchard is hoping to have a few bodies back.

“We had a couple of guys who were 50-50 going into this week and we just thought the extra week would really help them, so we didn't want to push them,” he continued.

“So we've got a few guys to come back, hopefully three or four to come back for Queens, and we know that'll be tough.

“Things aren't going as well as Queen’s would like there, but they've got a lot of quality players and it's a local derby, so we're really looking forward to that one. We'll try and assess what could be better from the Highfield game and then work on it next week.

“I think we worked really heavily on our defence this week because we sort of felt that some things weren't as good as what we wanted them to be, and then against Highfield, we had to defend for large parts of the game and we did pretty good jobs. There will be a lot to work on and that's good, it keeps me in a job.”

City of Armagh and Queen’s both lost, whilst in the top-flight Ballynahinch remain 5th after a bonus point win at Nenagh.

In Division 2A, Dungannon lost the top-of-the-table clash with Barnhall 28-7 at Stevenson Park, there were home wins for Ballymena and Banbridge.

All three Ulster clubs Clogher Valley, Malone and Rainey enjoyed wins on the road in Division 2B, while in the fifth-tier Belfast Harlequins won but Ballyclare lost.