Gaining possession from the kick-off Ards were running the ball well until a brace of penalties allowed Instonians into the Ards 22. Instonians were well drilled at the lineout setting up driving mauls but superb defence work from the Ards forwards held them up.

A turn over at the breakdown by Chris Beacon allowed outhalf Chris McClure to relieve the pressure. The Ards backline was beginning to thrive on quality ball thanks to some tough tackling and tidy work at the breakdown from Ryan Yates and Jack Coulter.

Ards inside-centre Taylor Ferguson was making great line breaks and was causing the home defence problems resulting in two penalty kicks for Ards that fell short.

A hard hitting double tackle from Trevor Devlin and Neil Beggs was harshly judged high by the referee, from the resulting lineout the Insts pack got the driving maul going and a kick ahead was well finished by their scrum half for an unconverted try.

Ards' response saw a sustained period of pressure on the Insts try line but all the good work went begging and opportunities were missed by Johnny Millar and Peter Croan.

Insts returned to the offensive with a series of strong breaks from their centres leading to a second unconverted try before half-time.

Half time: Ards 0 v Insts 10

The match resumed with Insts having more of the possession and territory and this was rewarded when they drove over again from a lineout early in the second half.

Ards were failing to extend their game beyond close - quarter drives but the game now began to open up for the Ards back line, line breaks by winger Adam Coulter and Devlin gave the forwards a platform to attack.
Only the lack of cohesion resulting from an unfamiliar halfback partnership prevented the decisive moves leading to scores.

But Ards were not to be denied, keeping possession and upping the intensity which saw hooker Conran Stewart breaktwo tackles and with David Armstrong in support crashed over for a deserved try, the conversion hit the post.
Ards were back on the attack from the restart with winger Beggs taking play to the Insts 5mtr line forcing a Ards lineout, unfortunately it was all too late, as the referee blew up for full time.

Full time: Ards 5 v Insts 15

Ards 2nds, J Miller, C Stewart, A Peden, C Dean,P Croan,C Beacom, R Yates, J.Coulter,A Wright,C McClure, N Beggs, T Ferguson, T Devlin, A.Coulter, N Armstrong.