Dungannon edge Malone to make winning start to 2025

Thankfully the freezing conditions of the previous few days lifted to enable the 10th round AIL game between Dungannon and rivals at Malone to go ahead.

The conditions at Gibson Park were dark and dank and so it proved in the first half with both sides showing good defence but struggling to find continuity to enable them to launch a serious attack.

Malone had the better of possession and position in the first half but good defence from Dungannon led to turnovers and penalties and that enabled Dungannon to relieve the pressure. It wasn’t until the 30th minute that Malone’s Matthew Smyth opened the scoring with a penalty kick. It remained 3-0 to Malone at half-time.

Dungannon pressure early in the second half led to a penalty being awarded to Dungannon 30m out from the posts, which was slotted over by Ben McCaughey.

Full coverage in this week's Tyrone Courier