Thanks to the generosity of Donaghadee’s Pier 36 Restaurant the town’s rugby football club is able to make an ever-popular presentation each month to the man they consider to have been their Player of the Month.
For the month of November the award went to David Thompson. All at DRFC know the value of this rugby man. Indeed many outside the seaside town will well remember DT as the rock in the side that won Regent House’s first Schools’ Cup.
Many other rugby people will know this iron-hard lock, No. 8, prop and even centre-threequarter at UUC and the combined Irish Colleges or from his AIL days at Ards. After a peripatetic year or two, DT fetched up at Donaghadee in 2004. He confesses that in his mind he saw this as the start of a gentle ease into retirement – but that is not in his character. Give the big man a whiff of wintergreen and he becomes a warrior again – his powers hardly diminished and his rugby knowledge still growing.
He has served DRFC well as a player, assistant coach to Cois Beukes and Ian Martindale and council member. In addition, his popularity as a schoolteacher and rugby man, and the respect in which he is held by upcoming young players, has been a great asset to the Donaghadee club. At the presentation in December the club’s Chairman, David Monson, highlighted DT’s performance in Donaghadee’s storming victory in the November Junior Cup win over closest and oldest rivals, Bangor RFC, and emphasised that with Donaghadee this season so much in contention in the Qualifying League and Provincial Town’s Cup as well as in the Junior Cup the performance level throughout the club is exceptionally high with a large number of candidates for outstanding player every month.
David’s response was typical of the man. “As I get older I know there are fewer and fewer games left in me, so I enjoy every game and give everything on the pitch as I always have, and perhaps this is why I was given this award, although I would not be a stand out player for this month if it hadn’t been for my team mates around me.”
Thanks to the generosity of Donaghadee’s Pier 36 Restaurant the town’s rugby football club is able to make an ever-popular presentation each month to the man they consider to have been their Player of the Month.
For the month of November the award went to David Thompson. All at DRFC know the value of this rugby man. Indeed many outside the seaside town will well remember DT as the rock in the side that won Regent House’s first Schools’ Cup.
Many other rugby people will know this iron-hard lock, No. 8, prop and even centre-threequarter at UUC and the combined Irish Colleges or from his AIL days at Ards. After a peripatetic year or two, DT fetched up at Donaghadee in 2004. He confesses that in his mind he saw this as the start of a gentle ease into retirement – but that is not in his character. Give the big man a whiff of wintergreen and he becomes a warrior again – his powers hardly diminished and his rugby knowledge still growing.
He has served DRFC well as a player, assistant coach to Cois Beukes and Ian Martindale and council member. In addition, his popularity as a schoolteacher and rugby man, and the respect in which he is held by upcoming young players, has been a great asset to the Donaghadee club. At the presentation in December the club’s Chairman, David Monson, highlighted DT’s performance in Donaghadee’s storming victory in the November Junior Cup win over closest and oldest rivals, Bangor RFC, and emphasised that with Donaghadee this season so much in contention in the Qualifying League and Provincial Town’s Cup as well as in the Junior Cup the performance level throughout the club is exceptionally high with a large number of candidates for outstanding player every month.
David’s response was typical of the man. “As I get older I know there are fewer and fewer games left in me, so I enjoy every game and give everything on the pitch as I always have, and perhaps this is why I was given this award, although I would not be a stand out player for this month if it hadn’t been for my team mates around me.”
