Ballymena 28 Clontarf 18
Ballymena have been crowned AIB League Division One champions after a pulsating final against Clontarf at Lansdowne Road this afternoon.
The Ulster side were well worth their win but would have been harshly pegged back minutes from the end had referee Alain Rolland not disallowed a Dave Moore try under the posts for a double movement.
Clontarf made the early running, taking only a minute and a half to get themselves on the scoreboard thanks to a Darragh O'Shea penalty after Ballymena were ruled offside.
Parity was restored soon after however when Paddy Wallace punished Clontarf for sloppy defending on their 22.
Spurred on by Wallace's score Ballymena made numerous incursions into the Clontarf 22 but were continuously met with stubborn defending.
When Ballymena hooker Paul Shields broke for the corner it looked for all the world like the Ulstermen were certain to take the lead until a last gasp tackle from wing Ollie Winchester averted the danger.
That tackle proved even more crucial when Clontarf, with their first real venture in to enemy territory, were rewarded with a neat team try finished off by O'Shea, who converted to give his side a 10-3 lead.
Ballymena responded minutes later with the last score of the half as Wallace again converted from a penalty in front of the posts.
Despite starting the second half with 14 men, after Mark Blair was sin-binned for a deliberate knock on near his own line, Ballymena immediately announced their intentions with an Adam Larkin try after some great work from Neil McMillan and Paddy Wallace.
Larkin struck again ten minutes later, with his second try of the day, after Scott Young's sniping run set up the outhalf before Wallace converted.
Clontarf managed to get themselves on the second half scoreboard with an O'Shea penalty but all looked to be lost after James Topping's stunning try from saw him collect on the half way to beat five defenders and touch down in the corner.
Clontarf, to their credit, kept their heads high and continued to ask questions of the Ballymena defence and when Winchester charged in at the corner there seemed to be a faint light at the end of the tunnel.
It was backs against the wall stuff for Ballymena from then on in and when the whistle went to signal Moore's double movement the Clontarf contingent in the crowd were sure that the reward had come.
To their dismay, however, possession was correctly awarded to their opponents who gratefully cleared their lines.
The Dubliners near heroic comeback was halted soon after however when Larkin dropped over via the post with the last kick of the game.
In this afternoon's Division Two final, Dolphin capped a fine season with a 29-19 victory over Old Crescent.