Dungannon's international centre Mark McCall has been forced to quit the game because of injury. McCall, capped 13 times, finally accepted that his playing days are over after being told by a neuro-surgeon that he can not hope to recover sufficiently from a neck injury.

He started the season as captain of Ulster, but had to watch from the sidelines as the side went on to lift the European Cup.

However, McCall is to launch himself straight into a new challenge as coach of Ballynahinch, recently relegated to Division Three of the All-Ireland League.

Ballinahinch set up an Ulster Senior Cup quarter-final clash with Ballymena after scoring a comprehensive seven-try victory over CIYMS at Deramore Park last night. Centre Philip Nelson was the central personality in an assured performance, contributing 18 points with two tries and four conversions as his side ran out 45-7 winners.