Donaghadee 1st XV 8 Ballymoney 1st XV 24
Donaghadee welcomed Ballymoney for the key Christmas fixture on a dark and dank afternoon at Donaldson Park brightened by a pre-match warm-up game between the Mini Sections of both Clubs. The Dee were hampered by the loss of Richard Martindale and Chris Hamilton through unavailability and injury respectively but were buoyed by the return of Max Montgomery and Adam Alexander – the latter starting on the bench. Playing down “the hill” in the first half Donaghadee started well and soon took the lead through a Mark Cooper penalty. The Dee had all the territory and possession at this stage but were undone when a careless pass in midfield in the opposition 22 was seized by Ballymoney who fed their speedy left winger who promptly ran almost the length of the field to score a converted try under the posts. Donaghadee struck back almost immediately when sustained phase play and clever inter passing in the backline led to Cooper outpacing the defence to score in the right hand corner. With the extras missed Ballymoney converted a penalty to leave the half-time score 10-8 in their favour but the home faithful were confident that, although the side was only firing intermittently, they had enough in the tank to glean a much needed victory against a hitherto winless Ballymoney.
The Toon, however, had different ideas and urged on by their hefty travelling support pinned the Dee back in their own half and scored a converted try after superb continuity from their well drilled pack. This proved to be the pattern for the second half when Donaghadee – try as they might – could not break down the excellent Ballymoney defence and on gaining possession the Toon reverted to type and rolled forward via sustained mauling. The introduction of Alexander to the fray greatly improved the potency of the Dee offence but, time and again, their efforts were stymied by the hugely motivated Toon men. Approaching the end of normal time Cooper narrowly missed a penalty which would have given the Dee a losing bonus point and, as is often the case in these circumstances, the home sides efforts to score playing catch up rugby was foiled when Ballymoney turned over and scored a converted try with the last play of the game.
A disappointing day then in Donaldson Park which now leaves Donaghadee and Ballymoney firmly anchored on five points each at the wrong end of Q1. Rugby at this level is mostly about desire and, on the day, Ballymoney clearly wanted it more and thoroughly deserved their victory. A lot of graft required then during the incoming Christmas week for the 1st XV squad prior to what is now an even more key game next Saturday against CIYMS at Belmont. As alluded to above things haven’t really fired for the side this season but, with the talent available and coaching expertise in place, all that is required is sustained application throughout the incoming weeks…. hard times means hard work!
Malone 4th XV 24 Donaghadee 3rd XV 22
The 3rds travelled to Gibson Park in good spirits with a strong team bolstered by the seasonal return of overseas exiles Stuart Robinson, Chris Woods, Jordan Phillips and the recently returned samba king Gareth Martin. The Dee started strongly with forward domination in the tight by 3rd xv stalwarts Jamie Wilson and second row partnership Andy Molyneax and Brian McCracken leaving space for Gareth Martin and his back row colleagues to carry strongly and penetrate the home defensive lines. Ten minutes into the match the Dee found themselves with a midfield scrum and quick hands through 8-9-15 left right winger Woods in space with only 40 meters and a couple of defenders to beat for the opening try.Ssidestep – pace – chip and gather- score under the posts – thank you Woodsy. With the simple conversion put wide the Dee men rallied from the kick off and within minutes stand in scrum half Chris Scott spotted a gap and darted over for the Dees second score which was converted for a 12-0 lead. A third try in quick succession went a-begging following yet another barnstorming run from blind side flanker Gareth Martin showing strength to break the tackle and speed to dash the 30 meters to the try line – only to be stopped by a magnificent last ditch tackle by the home full back forcing a knock on over the line. At this stage the Dee men perhaps thought that this was going to be a leisurely walk in the park on a sunny Saturday afternoon, but the Red Sox had other ideas and battered the Dees line for the next 10 minutes until they made it over for a 5 pointer following persistent hard running from their centres and back row. With 10 minutes to go before half time the Dee lost young scrum half Scott to an accidental boot to the face as he tried to clear the ball from the base of an untidy ruck. A few minutes later replacement scrum half Andy Monson who had stepped in from the centre was caught on the fringes of another ‘anything goes’ ruck and had to leave the field with a nasty looking knee injury. Like a pack of sharks, the smell of blood seemed to whip the home team into a feeding frenzy and they successfully attacked the Dee line again to leave the half time score at 12-12.
Shortly after the break the Dee hit back with a McGivern try following a period of good play between forwards and backs. Once again however the kick under the posts was missed but the Dee seemed to have found their feet again following the re shuffled backline. The remaining half hour was a nail biting time with both teams playing some good rugby but it was Malone who finished stronger with another 2 tries to the Dee’s 1 leaving a full time score at Malone 4ths 24- Donaghadee 3rds 22. All in all a disappointing result for the men in red and green who left 19 points on the park through missed opportunities but full praise must go to the home team who battled for 80 minutes to earn a victory on their home turf. Particular mention must go to Malone stalwart Davy Heron who helped out the injured Dee men on the sideline with strapping on quite a few occasions when the Dee’s medical bag was found wanting.
It is hoped that the injured players rest up over Christmas and are fit to return to action in the new year when the 3rds and 2nds both find themselves involved in cup rugby on Saturday 3rd January. Against popular demand it has been decided that there will be no 3rds / social touch rugby on this Thursday night at the club but those who have a craving are encouraged to get involved in the festivities – on and off the field – at Donaldson Park on Boxing Day.
Christmas Fixtures & Festivities
The 1st XV game at Belmont is the only Club game this Saturday (27th) – festive support would be greatly appreciated so please make every effort to head up to Circular Road for the 2-30pm kick-off. Before that, on Boxing Day, the annual Home v Exiles game will take place at Donaldson Park. The bar will be open from 1pm so get the Christmas jumpers on and join the regulars along with all those home from the UK (and further afield) for the holidays. If Boxing Day is anything like last Saturday
a great day is in store due to the hard work of Paul Blewitt, Ian Fleming and their cohorts who put on a magnificent afternoon & evening’s entertainment and who hope to reprise that party atmosphere on Thursday.
RNLI
At the Pre-Match Lunch last Saturday Club Vice-Chairman Paul Blewitt presented a cheque to Donaghadee RNLI Hon. Sec. Evelyn Bennett as a donation from the Christmas Casino Night held recently by the Club at Donaghadee Golf Club. Evelyn thanked the Club for its donation and assured the assembled that it was very much appreciated and will assist funding the local branch in continuing to deliver the essential service they selflessly provide.
