"Ah, sure the result was never really in doubt," joked a Terenure supporter coming out of Lakelands Park. Sarcasm can hide much relief. In truth, Dungannon had twice looked assured of this victory before the late indulgence of Terenure stole it back.
While this win moves them up to third in the table, and left a lot of jubilant faces around Lakelands, coach Gerry Murphy can't be entirely satisfied with this Terenure performance. For too long it appeared that the game had gone beyond them.
Yet the nature of the fightback alone is probably enough to forgive their early lack of conviction. You have to give them full credit for the way they rattled into Dungannon's lead and produced a climax that was almost amusing in its entertainment value.
The first and most significant of Terenure's comebacks occurred in a hectic seven minute spell midway through the second half. Trailing 30-10, it was make or break time, and with team determination that had been previously absent, flanker Peter O'Malley completed a fine exchange of passing to score under the posts.
Three minutes later, Richard Governey pulled off the try of the game by spinning through most of the Dungannon defence, and with eyes focused on the line, reduced the gap to six points. With David Lynagh maintaining his excellent conversion rate, and centre Mark O'Kelly adding another swiftly executed try, the home support really found their voices and they were suddenly the point ahead, 31-30.
At that stage, Dungannon seemed to have lost all the concentration which had seen them dominate the first half, especially at midfield. But they weren't dead yet. David Humphreys cracked his poetry once more and sent Jonathan Davis steaming down the touch-line all the way into the corner. Their lead was restored with just minutes of normal time remaining.
Incredibly, Terenure were to throw the last punch, creating comeback number two from another quick passing movement from their backline. Coming through O'Kelly and Shane Cullen, the ball reached David Coleman and, with superb pace despite this being his first league start since last March, he swerved in for the winning try.
Still, there has to be an examination as to why they were chasing such a lead in the first place, and it can't all be blamed on the absence of Girvan Dempsey. Although they claimed the opening score after Humphreys misfired a pass and Governey sneaked in the opening try, Terenure's first half was both lethargic and unproductive.
That's not to say Dungannon didn't deserve their three unanswered tries. By the quarter hour mark, they had taken complete control of the game, scoring their first try from a persistent maul in the corner that saw Alan Clarke come up with the ball. Not long after, Jonathan Bell ran in their second and with Humphreys converting and adding two more penalties, Dungannon were up 20-10 at halftime.
So Terenure needed something fast. Instead, three minutes after the restart, Tony McWhirter completed another sweeping run through the three-quarter line for the corner try. Two more kicks from Humphreys and the lead was up to 20 points.
However, once Terenure got a couple of breaks and O'Malley picked up the much needed try they looked like a different team. Eric Miller came much more to the fore, substitute Dermot Quinn was also noticeable, and the entire three-quarter line performed so much more effectively. They had the tables turned on Dungannon, and certainly deserved the points.
Scoring sequence: 7 mins: Governey try, Lynagh conv 7-0; 17 mins: Clark try, Humphreys conv, 7-7; 22 mins: J Bell try, Humphreys conv, 714; 26 mins: Lynagh pen, 10-14; 35 mins: Humphreys pen, 10-17; 39 mins: Humphreys pen, 1020; 43 mins: McWhirter try, Humphreys conv, 1027; 50 mins: Humphreys pen, 10-30; 66 mins: O'Malley try, Lynagh conv, 17-30; 69 mins: Governey try, Lynagh conv, 24-30; 73 mins: O'Kelly try, Lynagh conv, 31-30; 75 mins: Davis try, 31-35; 79 mins: Coleman try, Lynagh conv, 3835.
Terenure: S Cullen; D Coleman, M O'Kelly, M Smyth, D Lynagh; R Governey, D Hegarty; S Barretto, J Blaney, J Campbell; R Sherrif (capt), C Potts, P O'Malley, B Kavanagh, E Miller. Replace- ments: D Quinn for Potts (45 mins).
Dungannon: J Bell; J Davis, J Cunningham, A Clark, T Howe; D Humphreys, S Bell; J Fitzpatrick, A Clark (capt), G Leslie; P Johns, K Walker, A Boyd, A Hughes, T McWhirter. Replacements: M Bradley for Howe (71 mins).
Referee: S Smith (MRF)
