AIL2B: Instonians 26 Galway Corinthians 21

After a dash round the outer ring, I made Shaw’s Bridge in time for kick off for Instonians home AIL2B fixture against visitors Galway Corinthians.

Corinthians looked the more composed putting together series of phases. On 4 minutes they won a penalty, dispatched by Sean Naughton, for a 3-0 lead. An Instonians attack petered out with a fumble close to the Corinthians line, before Naughton was on the back of a run around pass, which opened the Instonians defence. He dotted down under the posts. His conversion gave Corinthians a 10-0 lead,

Instonians had a few visits to the Corinthians 22 but were repelled. A long range 23^rd minute penalty by Naughton moved Corinthians 13-0 up. They changed round at halftime 13-0 in the lead.

Playing with the breeze, Instonians played with more composure, spreading the ball wide and threatening the scrambling Corinthians defence.

Eventually pressure paid off. Schalk van der Merwe took a flat pass and crashed over on 49 minutes. Ritchie McMaster’s conversion brought Instonians back to 7-13.

From a lineout maul on the left, Mark Mairs drove over after 54 minutes. McMaster nailed the conversion from the difficult angle to put Instonians ahead for the first time, 14-13.

Instonians continued to swing the ball around, creating gaps. Bevan Prinsloo danced through, close to the posts, after 63 minutes. McMaster converted for a 21-13 Instonians lead.

Corinthians heads didn’t drop. They created space on the left, courtesy of a long pass for Finn McNulty to reduce the deficit to 18-21.

Neil Saulters 78^th minute try moved Instonians out to 26-18 and a bonus point, before Naughton’s 80^th minute penalty goal earned Corinthians a losing bonus point.

Instonians now make in 2 bonus point wins from 2 to top AIL2B.

Match Gallery

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