DEE HOLD OUT FOR MEMORABLE VICTORY
It was derby day at Donaldson Park on Saturday as Donaghadee welcomed Bangor with Qualifying League One points, The Rodney Gray Cup and local bragging rights up for grabs.
Bangor have settled well back in Junior Rugby’s top league and on paper went into Saturday’s clash as favourites. However anyone watching any kind of sport knows that often in local clashes such as these the form guide goes out the window.
The game started at a high tempo pace with both teams enjoying early possession in each others half without really carving out any clear cut scoring opportunities. Although both teams had a two fixture free weekends leading up to this game there was clearly no rustiness in either camp as early on the ball was being transferred through both back lines at pace.
After this early flurry of activity Bangor looked to settle the pace of the game with a number of kicks attempting to secure territorial possession however a number of aimless midfield punts only served to feed the Dee counterattack.
Indeed Billy Allen’s early exposure to a number of successful counter attacking opportunities seemed to lift his and the teams confidence for the game ahead.
Donaghadee centre Nigel Barker successfully kicked two out of three penalty attempts midway through the half to give the home side a 6-0 lead.
It was however Bangor who scored the opening try of the day in the 24th minute in what was really their first sustained spell of pressure in the Dee 22. Bangor centre Mike Apsley cut a fine attacking line and sliced through the Dee defence all too easily to feed winger Mark Widdowson to score. Morgan added the extras to put Bangor in the lead.
Bangor failed however to build up any momentum following their try and it was the hustling Dee pack playing into the clubhouse corner that enjoyed the majority of possession as the first half came to a close.
Neither team would have needed any additional motivation for this game with both sets of players clearly having ‘fire in their bellies’ from the outset on Saturday afternoon. Donaghadee however appeared much better at tempering this sheer will to win with a balance of composure particularly at the breakdown where Bangor’s penalty count was entering into double figures by the stoke of half time.
Gareth Gordon had a number of different jumping options in the line-out on Saturday and was picking them out with ease in a classy first half performance and after an indifferent start to the scrum set pieces Chris Good, Stuart Hennessey and Co dug deep to match the heavy weight Bangor scrum.
On the 40th minute Richard Martindale collected a line-out in the clubhouse corner and in turn the red and green pack immediately lead a charge to the line, starting from 12m out. It was Jack Cooke enjoying his best game in a Dee shirt who broke from the maul to charge over for a score. An all-important try on the stroke of the half time whistle.
Half Time – Donagahadee 11 Bangor 7
For the rare neutral at the game on Saturday the match was perfectly balanced and the next 40 minutes of play did not disappoint in what was a pulsating clash of junior rugby at its best.
Although in the end the outcome of this game went right to the 80th minute the home side looked to have taken a massive step towards victory in the 48th minute when they scored their second try of the day.
Paul Blewitt who has played in more Donaghadee/Bangor clashes than anyone from either club – and in so doing experiencing the highs and lows these games have to offer – collected the ball just outside the Bangor 22 and with limited options wide he kicked a deft little ball in behind the oncoming defence and the Dee player coach Paul McKenzie won the race to ground the ball over the try line to rapturous applause from the home support.
In the 61st minute Barker made no mistake with a penalty effort to give Donaghadee a 12 point lead and with only quarter of the game left the Dee crowd was hoping there was no late drama similar to that at the Aviva only two weeks prior.
The home sides defensive display continued in the same vein as the 1st half and they were successful in spoiling any attacking play from Bangor to the extent that even though Bangor were chasing a 12 point lead they were at times left with no option but to kick downfield.
You could see however from the 70th minute that the energy levels in the home side were starting to drop and although the fresh legs of David Murray helped this effort Bangor were starting to exploit a number of gaps in the Dee defensive line.
On the 74th minute the visitors scored a converted try reducing the Dee lead to five points. The visitors did go onto score a third unconverted try in the 80th minute however Nigel Barker kicked his 12th point of the day with a long penalty from the 10 metre line in between these two Bangor scores which in the end was enough to secure a Donaghadee victory.
The final whistle was met with a chorus of applause from both sets of supporters recognising the significant effort of both sides. In the end it was the Dee men led by Captain Ally Lockhart who did enough to earn the victory and lift the spoils. Final score Donaghadee 22 Bangor 19.
After the game supporters and teams crammed the Donaldson Park Clubhouse and it is testament to the great sportsmanship of Bangor’s players and officials that all remained for couple of hours to help the Dee men celebrate – a hark back to the old days when all confrontations were left on the pitch at the final whistle and both sets of players enjoyed each others’ company long into the evening – well done lads!
THIS WEEK
No games at Donaldson Park this weekend with the only Dee team in action being the 3rd XV who travel to Civil Service 2nd XV at Stormont with a 2:30pm kick-off.
