Instonians 31

Corinthians 12

By John Mulligan

Corinthians remain very much in contention for a spot in the playoffs despite a defeat to table-toppers Instonians on Saturday afternoon in Shaw Bridge.

The scoreline may suggest a relatively comfortable win for the Belfast side who are now nine points clear at the top of the table, but Corinthians were missing several regulars, and at times were on the wrong end of a couple of contested decisions.

The Cloonacauneen side will learn from this loss, and with a break this weekend, when the rest of the clubs play their game-in-hand, it will give them the opportunity to regroup with a crucial game against Old Crescent to come in Limerick Saturday week (March 1, 2.30pm).

Instonians knew that a win of any kind would put them in a strong position overall and they started strongly, with a try from Mark Mairs after just five minutes setting the tone for the afternoon.

The wing-forward powered over after a lineout was mauled towards the Corinthians line, and Josh Eagleson would follow with the first of his three conversions.

Corinthians did not drop their heads, and as they came into the game, chances arose. Sean Naughton was unlucky with a penalty that veered wide at the last moment, but they would be rewarded for their hard work with a fine try from Finn McNulty after 17 minutes.

A break from Orin Burke went through the cover and he found the winger who scored to the left of the posts. Naughton’s conversion attempt hit the post to leave the home side 7-5 to the good.

The wind favoured Instonians in the first-half and it played a significant role in their second try. Naughton’s clearance was held up in the wind and was collected, leading to David Whitten’s short pass to Ruari O’Farrell who sprinted between the posts.

It got worse for Corinthians with James Nicholson was yellow carded after some pushing-and-shoving that started when Robert Whitten and Max Holmes got to know each other after a tackle from the Corinthians hooker.

With everything calmed down, the touch judge alerted the referee who gave the winger – who didn’t appear to have anything to do with the earlier incident – a yellow card.

With the player advantage, Instonians scored their third try from Marty Voster following a line-out and that try, and Eagleson’s third conversion, gave Instonians a 21-5 lead at the break and left Corinthians with a mountain to climb in the second-half.

To the visitors’ credit, they kept fighting but again came out the wrong side of the referee with another yellow card against them, this time to John Devine for what was deemed a tip tackle on Ian Whitten.

Pictured: Jack Pollard came off the bench for Corinthians up in Shaw’s Bridge.