Barker secures Donaghadee league Win
Donaghadee returned to league action on Saturday after their success in the All Ireland Junior Cup welcoming Academy to Donaldson Park.
These two teams have battled it out in some great games in recent years however the Roughfort team came to the Dee looking to kick start their season and remove any memories of a heavy defeat in last season’s corresponding fixture.
Donaghadee put intense pressure on the visitors defence in the early stages of the game with David Thompson, returning to the starting line-up coming closest to crossing the line with a trademark burst from the back of the scrum. Donaghadee however had to be content with a Nigel Barker penalty attempt on the 7th minute to show for their early period of dominance.
Acadamy appeared to take confidence from their early defensive efforts and from the restart enjoyed a period of pressure in Donaghdee’s half with only a good covering tackle from Dee full back Billy Allen keeping the lively Norman Carson from scoring.
On the 14th minute the visitors got a great forward push from their scrum deep in Donaghadee’s 22 and were able to control their drive for their back row to score the first try of the day. An excellent conversion gave Academy a 7-3 lead.
Donaghadee responded immediately and from the restart Chris Hamilton secured high ball and offloaded to the supporting David Murray. Murray straightened his running angle and in return created an overlap for the supporting centres Paul McKenzie and Barker to combine with Barker touching down in the corner.
A scrappy, error strewn middle part of the game was made more frustrating for the home side with the loss of influential player Hamilton after 22 minutes.
Academy brought scores level with a well taken penalty on the 30th minute and on the stroke of the referees half-time whistle took the lead in the most bizarre circumstances. Donaghadee were playing the ball out of defence and with no danger apparent the Academy loose head prop showed great strength to steal the ball from Donaghadee and even better composure to stay in touch and stretch to score in the club house corner.
Having taken a deserved lead into half time Academy will be disappointed that they were unable to hold the lead for any period in the second half as Donaghadee responded with the opening attack of the second half with the centre partnership of McKenzie and Barker combining again and Barker getting his second try of the day after an impressive line break by the Player/Coach McKenzie.
The home side however could not manufacturer any sustained momentum against the dogged visiting team who showed great industry and hunger for the ball in the second half. The possession that Academy enjoyed in the second period was rarely with any great penetration however it was more than enough to suppress any clear Donaghadee opportunities.
Indeed it was Academy who lead play going into the final quarter of the game after they successfully kicked a penalty on the 58th minute.
At times it looked unlikely that Donaghadee were going to break down the visitors defence however on the 72nd minute clean ball was secured from the base of the scrum and Dee skipper Ali Lockhart got his backs moving at pace. The ball made its way to McKenzie who fed the ball to the oncoming Billy Allen who appeared buoyed on by the lack of previous opportunities to attack the line and brightened up a frustrating afternoon for the home side with a superb side-step to beat the last two men and score under the posts. Barker converted to give the Dee a 24-18 win and himself a 19 points tally for the day.
The Dee 1st XV now enter a crucial part of their season when, after this incoming Saturday when they face Ballymena II at Donaldson Park in the Conference League (ko 2:30pm), they have three away games against league leaders Portadown, Clogher Valley and CIYMS in successive weeks. Please note the CIYMS game at Belmont has been brought forward from 15th December 2012 due to that being the date the Dee will play their All Ireland Junior Cup Quarter Final. The 2nd XV have a rest day this Saturday whilst Mark Mitchell’s 3rd XV are at home to Armoy II in the league.
Please note any applications for away 2013 International Tickets should be made, together with payment, to Jim Lyttle before 15th November 2012. Full details are available on the Club Website (www.donaghadee-rugby.com).
Members are reminded that subscriptions are now overdue and payable to Gavin Wallace – again all details are available on the Club Website.
