Spencer ‘Couldn’t Ask For Much Better’ As Terenure Enjoy Big Win At ‘Hinch

Almost a third of the way into the league season, Terenure are nicely positioned in second place having won four of their five games to date, bagging three try-scoring bonus points in the process.

Saturday’s encounter at a sunny but windy Ballymacarn Park was closely fought during the first half, with ‘Nure leading 12-7 at the break, but the visitors showed a clinical edge to dominate the final 40 minutes.

Given that Ballynahinch had won the previous week at Cork Constitution, last season’s beaten finalists, this was an important result for Spencer’s side who have scored the most points and conceded the least, five rounds in.

“Good to be here. A different part of the country obviously. In terms of the result, couldn’t ask for much better really,” Spencer told Hinch TV afterwards.

“I thought the guys prepared well during the week, and just to be able to execute that today was tremendous.”

The former All Black was able to pair Fintan Gunne and Caspar Gabriel together at half-back, with Leinster Academy out-half Gabriel, who only recently turned 20, looking in buoyant form after making his senior provincial debut against Zebre Parma.

He landed six of his eight conversion attempts at ‘Hinch for a 12-point haul, and had some big moments in open play. He was ‘Nure’s second top ball carrier with 13, made two line breaks and beat six defenders, and made all ten of his tackles.

Both Gunne and Gabriel finished with over 200 kicking metres and two try assists each, and the latter’s aerial ability also stood out. He used his 6ft 3in frame to gobble up a Gunne box kick, neatly setting fellow youngster Dan Martin free for a 65-metre run-in.

Straight after Arthur Ashmore’s 52nd-minute bonus point try, Gabriel soared to take down Paul Kerr’s restart kick, racing up past halfway before feeding Ashmore who broke into the hosts’ 22 before lobbing a pass out for Ethan Reilly to touch down.

Speaking about his side’s impressive return from contestable kicks on the day, Spencer explained: “We probably didn’t put much emphasis on that during the week.

“We’re probably more a side that like to play with ball in hand than rather kick it away. But the couple of times we did do it, we got good reward out of it.

“I think that was purely down to just one individual and that was Caspar. A number 10 going up for contestables is not ideal, but the ones he did go up for and got for us were awesome.”

Ballynahinch had put 35 and 57 points on Young Munster and UCD respectively, in their previous two home matches in the current Division 1A campaign. So for Terenure to hold them to two tries, one in each half, was particularly satisfying.

Max Russell and in-form winger Martin, who now has six league tries to his name, both crossed before Ulster Academy prop Tom McAllister piled over in the 25th minute for the County Down outfit, leaving just five points in it.

Turning around after the break with the wind in their favour, ‘Nure managed to score four more tries by the 56th minute, and the returning Chris Cosgrave helped himself to a second-half hat-trick, running in an intercept effort during the last play.

Spencer added: “When you’re playing into a pretty strong breeze in the first half, we just knew we had to nail our one percenters and stay in the fight, and we did that.

“To go into half-time with a lead was probably a really good effort in terms of where we probably wanted to be. So it was really a good confidence booster for us going into half-time, having the lead into a strong breeze.

“Going into the second half, we just knew we had to nail our roles early on. In those big minutes, those first ten minutes, we did that. Managed to get a couple of early scores, and we just really built on that.”

Next up for Terenure is a mouth-watering Dublin 6W derby with St. Mary’s College, who come to Lakelands Park on Saturday week as unbeaten leaders. The top of the table clash will be streamed live on irishrugby+.

Meanwhile, a rare home defeat has seen Ballynahinch slip out of the top four, but they are just a point behind Lansdowne in fourth spot. It is a busy period for Adam Craig’s charges, who host Sligo in an Energia Bateman Cup semi-final this Saturday.

They then face away trips to top-flight newcomers Nenagh Ormond and Lansdowne, so with the challenges coming thick and fast, captain Claytan Milligan and his team-mates will need to be back firing on all cylinders.

Acknowledging the dip in their performance, head coach Craig told Hinch TV: “Pretty disappointed that we didn’t back up last week’s good result (away to Cork Con).

“Yeah, we got a good bit wrong there in the second half unfortunately. And with the teams in this league, when you get it wrong, they’ll punish you.”

Ballynahinch unfortunately had to replace Ulster’s Ethan Graham following an early injury, losing a key attacker who had stunned UCD with a six-try salvo three weeks ago.

They had opportunities, especially with a couple of mauls deep inside Terenure’s 22, to be at least level at the interval, but ‘Nure succeeded in disrupting them.

With Gunne and Gabriel coming to the fore, ‘Hinch’s defensive workload increased, and scrum half Chris Gibson’s yellow card, for a late challenge on Gabriel just before half-time, was a significant setback.

“We just struggled a little bit,” admitted Craig. “Obviously 12-7 at half-time, we had a lot of opportunities there in the first half and defended for long periods as well.

“I think that maybe took its toll there in the last 20 (minutes), where I suppose we lost it maybe emotionally a little bit and it cost us. We’ve got to learn from it and certainly get better.”

One area they will be working hard on is competing in the air, a battle which Terenure won decisively. Craig praised Gabriel for his impact there, and said there will be a collective responsibility for the coaches and players to deliver improvements across the coming weeks.

Asked about ‘Nure gaining the upper hand in the air, he noted: “Obviously they had two good half-backs with a good kicking game. Probably not something they’ve had over the last few weeks.

“But look, we were practising it there on Thursday night and it was just one of those days. Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes it doesn’t.

“Certainly Caspar Gabriel looks pretty exceptional under the high ball, both at pro level and 1A, so he dominated the air space and we’ve got to get better there.”

Another young prospect to keep an eye on is Ballynahinch back rower Jon Rodgers (pictured above), who came off the bench to score a try on his All-Ireland League debut.

He memorably captained Wallace High School to Ulster Schools Senior Cup glory last March, and is an Ireland Under-18 Schools international, featuring during August’s Under-18 Men’s International Series in South Africa.

“Lots to work on across the board. Everybody’s got to learn from that, coaches and players. We’ll take our medicine today and hopefully come back stronger next week,” concluded Craig.

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