Keenly fought derbies; unbeaten runs tumbling. It was another action-packed weekend of domestic action across the province.
In the Energia All-Ireland league, old foes Dungannon and Ballymena got reacquainted while for the first time ever, Clogher Valley took on neighbours Enniskillen in a senior fixture.
In the Championship, Bangor notched up their first win of the season while in Championship 2, Strabane’s unbeaten start to the season came to a crashing end.
Historic Win for Clogher Valley
The Cran welcomed one of its biggest ever crowds for the visit of Enniskillen.
An early Clogher Valley try from Ewan Haire set the tone for the afternoon, and further touchdowns from Philip Watson, Matthew Bothwell and Joshua Kyle helped the home team to a 26-7 win.
Enniskillen’s sole effort coming from Peter Read.At Stevenson Park, a 7th minute James McClean try cancelled a Peter Nelson penalty to hand Ballymena a lead they were never to relinquish on Saturday afternoon.
James McMillan added three penalties after converting McClean’s try as Ballymena went about applying as much scoreboard pressure as they could.
Dungannon rallied and a late James McMahon try brought them back into the contest. However, a fourth McMillan penalty sealed a win for Ballymena while at the same time denying Dungannon a losing bonus-point.
In 1A, Ballynahinch put recent disappointments behind them to see off Cork Con at Ballymacrarn Park.
The visitors starting line-up included Munster fly-half Charlie O’Shea, but a brace of tries from Aaron Sexton and Clayton Milligan helped Hinch to a valuable 31-14 win.
First Win For Bangor
In Championship 1, Bangor broke their duck for the season with their first league win of the season against Belfast Harlequins at Upritchard Park.
The two sides exchanged tries in the opening 10 minutes, but the Bangor bossed the second quarter to take a 28-7 lead into the changing room at the break.
Bangor continued to set the pace in the second half with Thomas Boyd and Connor McKee among the scorers as the home side celebrated a convincing 59-14 win.
Omagh recovered from their first defeat of the season in style, seeing off Portadown 29-10 at the Thomas Mellon Playing Fields.
Dromore strengthened their grip on top spot with a 50-10 win at Cooke, while Limavady recovered from a 10-point half time deficit to beat Lurgan 26-15.
Ards swapped places with Ballymoney by virtue of an 18-8 win over the North Antrim team at Hamilton Park.
Strabane Taste Defeat For First Time
In Championship 2, Coleraine threw the formbook out the window with a 19-13 win over previously unbeaten leaders Strabane at Rugby Avenue.
The six-point win was also enough to lift Coleraine off the bottom of the table where they are replaced by Letterkenny who went down to a narrow 25-28 loss to Academy at Dave Gallacher Park.
Larne are also in the relegation mix after they fell to a home derby defeat to Carrickfergus.
Carrick ran in four tries in a 28-16 victory to take over top spot in the division.
There were also important away wins for CIYMS and Randalstown over City of Derry and Lisburn respectively.
Big Scorelines in Gordon West Cup
Saturday also the quarterfinals of the Gordon West Cup.
Virginia proved too strong for Ulster University, winning 60-0 at Deerpark, while Donaghadee saw off Ophir on a similar scoreline.
Grosvenor carried over their fine league form to the cup, winning 60-7 against Cavan, while there was a much closer affair in Monaghan where the home team saw off Belfast High School Former Pupils 49-29 to gain some revenge last week’s league defeat to the same opposition.