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Ballynahinch to Face Instonians in Bank of Ireland Senior Cup Final

14th September 2026

Ballynahinch will play Instonians in this season’s Bank of Ireland Senior Cup Final after they both finished top of their groups following the final round of fixtures at the weekend.

Ballynahinch claimed a full quota of 15-points to top Group 1, but it was far from straight forward for Instonians who needed a late try to see off Clogher Valley in Fivemiletown.

At Ballymacarn Park, holders Ballynahinch ran in five tries on their way to a 35-12 win over Banbridge. The win booked Hinch’s twelfth final appearance, and their third in as many years.

City of Armagh claimed a second-place finish after a 21-12 win at Stevenson Park over Dungannon.

In Group 2, there was a de facto semi-final in County Fermanagh between Clogher Valley and last season’s beaten semi-finalists, Instonians, and the large crowd were treated to a thrilling cup tie.

Clogher Valley took a 14-5 lead into the half-time break, but a Marty Vorster try which was converted by Ruairi O’Farrell cut Instonians arrears to two-points.

The game was on a knife-edge as it entered the closing stages, and with just two minutes remaining, Mark Keane went over for the Belfast men to set-up a repeat of last year’s thanks to a hard fought 14-17 win.

The other game in Group 2 finished in a convincing 60-0 win for Ballymena over Queens University.

In the Senior Shield, Malone qualified for the final despite falling 23-17 to Enniskillen.

The Gibson Park side had a better scoring average of two-points over Ballyclare to claim a spot in the final where they will again travel to Mullaghmeen to face Enniskillen.

Instead, Ballyclare had to settle for a third-place finish after beating Rainey 54-21.