Last year’s Junior Cup finalists met a Donaldson park on Saturday, both having mixed fortunes in this seasons Kukri Qualifying League One but with the Coleraine men seven points ahead of the Dee before kick-off. CLICK HERE for the shots
The Dee players and coaches will have been thankful not to have required a Sat Nav for this one after a series of away fixtures to the ‘Big Three’in the league. After pointless, battling performances in each of these games the Dee squad came into this fixture perhaps felling a little pressure not only to perform but to pick up points.
It was however the visitors who started the game with the greater urgency and after only one minute on the clock took the lead courtesy of a well taken David Andrews penalty.
Donaghadee and particularly Chris Hamilton stamped a little authority on the game with a characteristic collect from a well measured Paul Blewitt restart that appeared to kick start the home sides performance.
Coleraine dominated set pieces early in the game and it was from a Coleraine scrum that the first try of the day was scored. Donaghadee were able to halt the scrum close to the try line however from the phases of play that followed prop forward A.Stirling crashed over on the 10th minute. Andrews kicked the conversion to give the visitors a 10-0 lead.
Donaghadee again restarted with increased urgency with key players such as Billy Allen receiving more possession, Allen showing great counter attacking skill to create a couple of Donaghadee attacks and utilising the powerful attacking force of Richard Millar on the left wing.
On the 12th minute Coleriane tried to clear their lines however the ball failed to find touch and Blewitt returned a menacing ‘up and under’ that caused havoc in the Coleraine defence allowing Kalave Aualiitia to feed a long pass to the supporting backline. Paul McKenzie continued his rich scoring form to score under the posts after a darting run. Nigel Barker added the extras to reduce the Dee deficit to 3 points.
The home side continued to dominate play during this period with the backline looking increasing dangerous at each attack, with the Donaghadee pack starting to get the better of their physical Coleriane counterparts.
On the 22nd minute McKenzie turned provider denting the defence with the Coleraine defence with the help of Millar which allowed centre Barker space to feed a scoring pass to Bill Allen who finished clinically.
On the 28th minute Millar received the ball in his own half and immediately set on the charge supported by Hamilton. The ball was then slickly transferred through the hands of Aualiitia, and McKenzie who released Richard Martindale who had the legs to finish off a great team effort. Barker converted to put Dee 19-10 ahead.
Although Coleraine reduced the lead via a Andrews penalty in the closing stages of the half, Martindale got his second of the day and importantly Donaghadee’s all important fourth of the day on the 38th minute, Number 8 Martindale picked the ball up from the base of the scrum only to see space open up in front of him inviting the line to be attacked which he did crashing over the line to appreciative applause from the side line. Barker kicked his third conversion of the day to give Donaghadee a 26-13 half-time lead.
The second half was played at a similar tempo to the first however clear scoring chances were limited for both teams with McKenzie coming closest in the 60th minute after he and Hamilton combined well.
Coleraine continued to enjoy their share of possession in the second period but this possession was often deep in their own half and with the clock working against them they were reluctant to use the relief of Andrews long range boot thus forced to try and break the Dee defence from deep.
Donaghadee on the other hand enjoyed all their possession deep in the Coleraine half and perhaps the sheer tempo and excitement of the game give the Dee players a touch of ‘White line Fever’ where they got so fixated with getting the ball over the line that the right options were not taken at crucial times.
Captain Ali Lockhart however stole the show and put this fever to bed in the closing stages of the second half with two fine tries that were just reward for another commanding performance from the young, talented scrum half.
The first try was the result of a series of phases where Donaghadee forwards had got close to the line only for Lockhart to make no mistake with his burst at the defence.
With nearly the last play of the game player/coach Stuart Hennessey making his first appearance of the game as a late sub, did his part in setting up an excellent scrum, from which Lockhart went on an attack that looked to have no clear route to the try-line. Lockhart however navigated this with perfection with an unconventional somersault finish enough to get the ball grounded. Barker made it 5 out of 6 conversions for the day to give Donaghdee a full time lead of 40-13.
Scoops Man of the Match –
David Murray – Back looking like a player that had missed being available in the last number of weeks. An excellent overall performance.
Donaghadee team: B.Allen ,M.Gibson, N.Barker, P McKenzie, R.Millar,P Blewitt, A Lockhart, G.Gordon,P.McCaughey, A Barnes, K Aualiitia, R Black,D.Murray, C Hamilton, R Martindale Subs: S.Hennessey, C McGivern
A superb effort by the managers & captains last weekend ensured that the Dee had three teams willing and ready to play. Unfortunately Tir Chonnaill called off the 3rd XV’s McCambley Cup first round game in the far North West on Friday to be followed on Saturday morning by Coleraine III’s calling off the Dee II scheduled game in J3 at Donaldson Park. Disappointing then but hopefully we can build on that interest and effort when the 2nd XV welcome Larne II in The Crawford Cup & 3rd XV travel to play Malone IV this Saturday.
The 1st XV will, of course, be travelling to Enniscorthy to play the Co. Wexford side in the Quarter Finals of the All Ireland Junior Cup. All supporters please note this game kicks off at 4:30pm.
The “Your Club, Your Country” competition is now in full swing and the forms costing £10 each may be ontained from behind the bar in the Clubhouse or from selected members of Club Council.
Finally for those who have not as yet paid their annual subscriptions these can be left behind the bar at the Club – please place in a sealed envelope marked for the attention of Gavin Wallace.
