RODNEY GRAY CUP STAYS AT BANGOR
Bangor arrived at Donaldson Park on the back of an impressive 40-17 win over AIL side Dungannon last week and, last season’s All Ireland Junior Cup finalists, having recruited heavily over the summer months, showed great intent from the kick-off in their efforts to retain the Rodney Gray Cup and were rewarded almost immediately when a slick back movement led to an unconverted try by Burns in the corner. Donaghadee struck back immediately and pressure on the Bangor line was rewarded with skipper Nigel Barker goaling a penalty. The Dee continued to threaten in this first quarter aided by the barnstorming Jack Cooke and Chris Hamilton supported by Chris Good, Gareth Deering and Gareth Gordon. Sam Ingham, Tommy Scullion and Cooke were enjoying success at line-out time and this allowed Barker, Matthew Stockton and Johnny Quigg to make deep forays into opposition territory. All the pressure was, however, to no avail as Bangor struck back to score two tries orchestrated by two of their new signings – Bradford and McCloskey. The Dee’s resolution fell off a little in the second quarter and, to add to the difficulty, play was stopped for fifteen minutes when Ingham suffered a head injury and an ambulance was called to take him to hospital. When play restarted Bangor scored a penalty try to bring the half time score to 26-3 in favour of the visitors.
In the first part of the second half Bangor were in control and the Dee – obviously rattled by the apparent serious injury to one of their players – were now falling off one or two tackles. Bangor stretched their lead through a combination of the power of their large pack and clever interaction of the backs. After a water break with twenty minutes of the game to go the Dee rediscovered the resolution of earlier and their steely defence and turnover work caused difficulties for the visitors but still the home side were unable to get across the line with Matthew Johnston, Chris McGivern and Richard Bailey all going close. Ultimately there was to be no reward for the Dee’s sterling efforts and Bangor scored a late try to bring proceedings to a close with a final score of 45-3 which probably did not fully reflect the home side’s influence borne out of the gritty determination exhibited in the first and final quarters.
And so the Rodney Gray Cup stays at Uprichard Park and we wish our neighbours every success for the incoming season when they undoubtedly will mount a significant challenge for promotion to the AIL.
From Donaghadee’s perspective, although the result was disappointing, there was much to be encouraged about and Coaches Cloke & West will be happy with the rugged resolve prevalent in the side’s performance and will continue the rebuilding process utilising the promise shown by the youngsters who have stepped up and also come in from schools rugby happy in the knowledge that they have the experience of the likes of Bill Allen and Richard Martindale to come back in together with one or two others for whom injury and unavailability has prevented an appearance so far in pre-season.
Finally we are happy to report that Sam Ingham’s injury was not as serious as first feared and, apart from suffering some tissue damage and having a fair degree of pain, he will be back on the pitch again once any concussion protocols which may be necessary have been served.
THIS SATURDAY
Donaghadee 1st XV welcome Ballymena 2nd XV to Donaldson Park in the Conference League kick-off 2:30pm.
MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS
The start of a new season means that all subscriptions are now due and payable so please make every effort to settle these as soon as possible by cash, cheque or standing order. Payment is also possible via the Club website at www.donaghadee-rugby.co.uk .Full details may be had by contacting Jonny Ballagh, Bill Allen or Garth Bennett.
FIXTURES IN SEPTEMBER
Sat 05/09/2015 1st XV v Banbridge II Conference League Away
2nd XV v Ballymoney II Junior League Home
Sat 12/09/2015 1st XV v Queens II Conference League Home
Sat 19/09/2015 1st XV v Malone II Conference league Away
3rd XV v Ards III Minor League Home
Sat 26/09/2015 1st XV v Academy Junior Cup Home
2nd XV v Virginia Junior league Away
TRAINING
Remember that the Senior Club train very Tuesday and Thursday starting at 7pm at Donaldson Park and everyone is welcome. If you are new to the Club or, indeed the game, please introduce yourself to Coaches Graham Cloke, John West or Paddy McGrattan, Director of Rugby Chris Good or any of the Club Captains – Nigel Barker, Stephen Cullen, Davy Kirkpatrick or Andy Monson.
WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Get involved on Donaghadee RFC’s various media platforms with the following available:
Website – www.donaghadee-rugby.co.uk
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/groups/DonaghadeeRugby/
Twitter – @DonaghadeeRugby
All are easy to join and then you can keep up with what is happening in & around the Club.
