DONAGHADEE 1st XV 19 GROSVENOR 1st XV 17
As the Indian Summer in the Province continued Donaghadee 1st XV welcomed Grosvenor to Donaldson Park for what was the home side’s first league game of the season in Kukri Qualifying Two.
With Chris Good, Billy Allen & Dicky Bailey unavailable and Johnny Quigg injured the Dee side was again much changed but, despite this fact, they started strongly after Jack Cooke made a break from a maul thirty metres and fed to the supporting Chris Hamilton whose drive towards the line was stifled illegally by Grosvenor and a penalty duly awarded. Nigel Barker converted to give the Dee a 3-0 lead with only two minutes played. After ten minutes as the Dee continued to press last week’s frailties were to come back to haunt them when a poor kick-chase was fielded by the opposition full-back who ran a mazy line from fully sixty metres out evading poor Dee tackling to score what was to be a converted try in the corner. On thirteen minutes the Dee were awarded another penalty for offside which brought the home side within a point when Barker goaled once again. At this point Grosvenor had the ascendency at scrum-time and some ten minutes later a deemed collapsed scrum allowed them to restore their four point lead from the kicking tee. On the thirty minute mark a somewhat dubious looking Grosvenor tackle lead to clash of heads which resulted in Dee skipper Barker having to leave the field of play to be replaced by Adam Alexander taking up a place on the wing with Mark Cooper replacing Paul Blewitt at full back who returned to his normal position at No.10. Although both sides were taking turns to threaten it was Donaghadee who struck next when a Hamilton break through midfield led to an exchange of passes with the ball ending up with centre Davy Kirkpatrick who burst through the remaining Grosvenor defence to score under the posts. Blewitt deputised for Barker and added the extras. Given the nature of play in the first half the home support would have been happy enough to go into the break with a 13-10 lead but unfortunately, in the eighth minute of injury time played due to the Barker departure and a replacement of a Grosvenor prop’s boot, the Dee’s current penchant for fragile defence struck again when a apparently innocuous blind side break from forty metres out resulted in the Grosvenor right winger profiting from weak tackling to score in the corner. The extras were again added to leave the visitors with a 17-13 half-time lead.
Strong words from Coach Graham Cloke at the break obviously had the desired effect when a much more purposeful Dee side took to the pitch and began to threaten from most phases of play. The scrum tightened significantly with Matthew Brown, Gareth Gordon & Gareth Deering troubling the opposition on their ball and securing good ball on the Dee put-in. The Dee lineout which had, to be fair, going well all day began to dominate and superb possession was garnered via Tommy Scullion, Richard Martindale and Matthew Johnston which allowed Chade Gelderman and Blewitt to bring centres Andy Todd and Kirkpatrick into the game and, in turn, the back three of Alexander, Cooper and Andy McGrugan. After eight minutes played in the second period Dee pressure resulted in a penalty and Blewitt brought it back to a one point game with a well-placed penalty kick. As the Dee strove to overtake the opposition on the scoreboard Cooke (who was now Captaining the side), Hamilton, Martindale, Johnston and Gordon were leading from the front with Cooke in particular causing Grosvenor problems ably supported by Hamilton and young Matthew Johnston who grew in stature as the game progressed. Grosvenor remained a threat however – mainly via their barnstorming blindside flanker – and both sides missed kickable penalties as the game moved into the final quarter. At this point Adam Torrans had replaced Deering in the front row and was acquitting himself well in set play.On seventy minutes Cooke broke on the blind from maul and ran towards the corner from twenty metres out evading Grosvenor’s despairing defence before appearing to go over in the corner. After initially appearing to award the try the referee reversed his decision after a conversation with the touch-judge resulted in Cooke being adjudged to have one foot over the touchline in the act of scoring. The Dee maintained their offensive position from this foray however and from the ensuing succession of rucks and mauls after another excellent lineout Grosvenor were given offside and Blewitt gave the Dee the lead with the penalty and with only nine minutes of normal time remaining. On the 76th minute probably the key moment of the game occurred after the Grosvenor No. 6 broke clean through the Dee defence and headed for the line for what looked like the winning score. Alexander had other ideas however and, after first chasing down the Grosvenor man, he tackled him five metres from the home line, regained his feet, robbed the ball and drove out to allow the ball to be cleared to touch from the ensuing ruck. Grosvenor however continue to press but they lost the ball fifteen metres from the Dee line and the ball was shipped to McGrugan who ran seventy metres and looked to be going in to score before he was eventually caught by the Grosvenor full-back. The Dee maintained their position however and, maybe somewhat naively, continued to spread the ball across the pitch. From one of these attacks Grosvenor managed to get a foot to a loose Dee pass and their outside centre kicked the ball from halfway to the Dee line but with the winning score at his mercy knocked on in the act of trying to ground the ball once it passed over the line resulting a Dee twenty-two drop out. Much to the relief of the home support the referee finally called no side in the ninth minute of injury time to end what had been an entertaining, if nerve-jangling, game and the Dee had secured their first league points of the season.
Man of the Match was awarded to Matthew Johnston after the game but he will be the first to admit that Jack Cooke had a major influence on the outcome of the game, along with the ever-excellent Chris Hamilton and the powerful contribution from Adam Alexander. Worthy of further mention also are Gareth Gordon who, as ever, got the hard work done in his usual unassuming manner and Andy Todd who brings strength and solidity to the midfield in both offence and defence. The side, however, will be aware that there will be greater tests to come but once they address apparent frailties in scramble defence they can continue to improve as the season progresses.
OTHER RESULTS
Qualifying 2
Ballymoney 13 Academy 35
Carrick 22 Larne 18
Qualifying 1
Ards 21 Portadown 27
Cooke 10 Bangor 45
Dromore 13 Instonians 39
Omagh 15 Ballyclare 17
Conference League
Coleraine 47 Queens II 15
Enniskillen 43 Banbridge II 10
Lisburn 47 Malone II 0
Randalstown 36 Ballymena II 22
BALLYNAHINCH 7th XV 24 DONAGHADEE 3rd XV 16
A very young Dee 3s side travelled away to league leaders Hinch Evergreens and, after a shaky start battled back, to a respectable 26-14 loss.
THIS WEEK
The 1st XV travel to The Glynn where they meet high-flying Larne in Kukri Qualifying 2, the 2nd XV welcome Donegal 1st XV to Donaldson Park in Junior 3 whilst the 3rd XV travel to Stormont to meet Civil Service 2nd XV. All the games kick-off at 2:30pm and all support will be most welcome.
RUGBY WORLD CUP AT DONALDSON PARK
As we approach the final games in the Pool Stage of the World Cup remember many of the key games are being shown on the Big Screen at the Club at the weekend – keep an eye on Club social media for more details.
