AIL/Dungannon 18 Ballymena 13: Dungannon won the big Ulster derby at Stevenson Park last night and in doing so settled a couple of All-Ireland League issues.

Their Stevenson Park defeat ended Ballymena's faint hopes of a top four finish, and the result also secured Dungannon's Division One survival.

Ballymena gained some reward for their early pressure when Owen Edwards stroked a penalty over in the 12th minute. But it was the home side who made the most of limited opportunities, and they crafted two tries in the space of eight minutes.

First veteran prop Gary Leslie thundered over following a lineout, and in the 26th minute, a superb phase of play from the Dungannon pack saw second row Ryan Caldwell break from a ruck to score on the left. Gareth Steenson converted one of the tries and landed a 36th minute penalty to give Dungannon a 15-3 half-time lead.

Edwards pulled back a penalty early in the second half, but Steenson restored the home side's 12 points advantage as the final quarter started.

Ballymena narrowed the gap with a superb individual try in stoppage time by centre Jamie McGrugan, but Jeremy Davidson's side held out.

DUNGANNON: J McGuckin; P Magee, S Mallon, A Clarke, G Carruthers; G Steenson, D Spence;, M Neilly, N Brady, G Leslie, T Barker, R Caldwell, R Stafford, A Hughes, S Ferris. Replacements: S McDowell for Clarke, R West for Ferris, C Knipe for Stafford.

BALLYMENA: P Budina; J Kelly, M Waterhouse, J McGrugan, O Edwards; D Strydom, D O'Hara; N McKernan, R Kernoghan, S Shaw, H Head, B Young, A Graham, J Taggart, M McComish. Replacements: I Campbell for Kernoghan, S Hughes for Graham.

Referee: C Stanley (Ulster)