Sat 19th Oct, 2:00pm. Donaghadee 32 – 19 Portadown 3
TWO OUT OF THREE FOR THE TWOS
by Jim Lyttle
Dee 2nd XV stand firm and secure second league victory of the season out of three starts… Kyle Morrow reports.
The 2nd XV looked to bounce back from the previous weeks defeat away to academy with a home game against Portadown 3rd XV.
Due to player unavailability, only 2 members of the pack that played against Academy were able to take to the pitch. There were also a few changes in the backline as club stalwart Paul Blewitt stepped into the number 10 jersey, with Andrew Mitchell and Chris McGivern coming into the centers and Andrew Cash returning to the wing.
The Dee opted to play down the hill in the first half in order to try and avoid the slow start which had hurt them the previous week. This decision was quickly vindicated as a good restart from Blewitt was chased down by the pack who were able to win the ball in the air. The ball was turned over on the Portadown 22 in front of the posts as the visitors were awarded a scrum. After sustained Donaghadee pressure and 5 reset scrums, the Dee were awarded a well-earned free kick. The forwards attacked quickly and the ball was moved to Blewitt as he switched to the blindside, where he put in a perfectly weighted grubber kick against a flat footed defence for Andrew Cash to score in the corner, with Blewitt adding the extras from the touch line.
Donaghadee did not have to wait long after that for their second try. Good set piece ball from the forwards on the left side of half way set the backs free, with Blewitt again showing his experience to step round the Portadown center, and then releasing Richard Bailey and Andy McGrugan away down the right. The two combined well and were hauled down just short of the line. Centre Andrew Mitchell came bursting on to a well-timed pass from scrum half Ross Garrett and, with the help of a few latching forwards, managed to barge his way over the line for a great team try. Blewitt again adding the difficult conversion.
The game settled down for a while after this, with the Dee looking comfortable against the visitors, with Captain Kyle Morrow taking the restarts well and Blewitt clearing with some fantastic kicks, forcing Portadown to try and run the ball out of their own half. This lead to a Donaghadee scrum half way inside the visitor’s territory. With the new look front row of Mark Mitchell, Adam Johnson and Blair Savage starting to turn the screw at scrum time, the backline launched again. This time Blewitt decided to do it all on his own, cutting through a gap in the back line off the first phase, before a delightful dummy to the supporting Chris McGivern to beat the full back and give him the easy job of converting his own try from in front of the posts.
This finally seemed to wake up the visiting Portadown side who managed to put together some good phases as they ran the ball out of their own half, with their forwards especially trying to stamp their mark on the game. This eventually paid off as the Captain and number 8 came bursting through the Donaghadee defence before unselfishly drawing the full back and putting his back row colleague in under the posts for a converted try.
The revival was short lived as Portadown failed to clear their lines from the restart and again gave Donaghadee the scrum in a dangerous position. From there Blewitt released McGivern who dropped the shoulder and took on his opposite man on the outside, handing him off for good measure, before outpacing the covering full back and coming round under the posts for a magnificent and deserving solo try, with Blewitt knocking over the simple conversion.
Donaghadee kept up the pressure on the Portadown line, but were hampered when centre Andrew Mitchell was forced off with a suspected torn hamstring. Nevertheless, the 14 men kept up the intensity and found themselves a few meters short of the line again and looked to have scored their fifth try in the corner, only for the referee to disallow the try as several members of the Portadown team had stopped to tend to flanker Gareth Martin and Kyle Morrow who were both down injured. Martin was able to carry on but their Captain Kyle Morrow was forced off with an arm injury. With both players being treated, the referee called a halt to the first half. The Dee would now have to play up the hill with 13 men, defending a 28 – 7 lead, with Blewitt taking over the captaincy.
The second half started poorly for the Dee men, with Portadown turning over possession and scoring under the posts after some consistent build up play to cut the lead to 28 – 14. From here Portadown’s 2 man advantage began to show, with them retaining the ball well and going through a number of phases and not giving the Dee men a chance to clear their lines. After more sustained pressure, Portadown managed to force their way over in the corner, failing to add the extras and leaving the score at 28 – 19.
It was starting to look like the two injuries would cost the Dee men a victory they deserved as there was over 20 minutes of play still left on the clock. However, the 13 men dug deep and began to show their true character. The back row of Gareth Martin and Ryan Campbell worked tirelessly in defence, with new addition to the club Nico tackling anything that moved and winning some vital turnovers, supported by second row Jack Matthews adding a good physical presence.
The Dee set up camp in the opposition half for the rest of the game, with Blewitt adding another 3 points through a penalty to extend the lead ever so slightly. The Dee men came wave after wave and went close a couple of times, only for the visitors to slam the door shut. From there the home side never looked like relinquishing control and saw out the game relatively comfortably, with Portadown not seriously threatening after the dominance they showed early in the second half.
This game was a great advertisement for the 2nd XV, with great flair and ability shown in the first half, followed by 40 minutes of grit and determination that has been lacking in recent seasons. The seconds have a week off before a trip up to Grosvenor, which will hopefully give the battered bodies time to recover and continue the good start to the season. With the only defeat so far being inflicted away to the league leaders, there is good cause for optimism amongst this side.
Sat 19th Oct, 2:30pm. Kukri Qualifying 1. Clogher Valley 37 – 8 Donaghadee
DEFEAT FOR THE DEE ON THE ROAD
by Jim Lyttle
Dee find it difficult at The Cran…. reports Jonathan Martindale
Donaghadee had the unenviable task of travelling to The Cran, Fivemiletown last Saturday as they looked to bounce back from their home defeat to Ballymoney in their last league outing.
Although coaches McKenzie and Stuart Hennessey have been rotating their starting fifteen of late, Saturdays team was certainly closer to their strongest fifteen with the exceptions of prop forward Chris Good who failed a late fitness test with a knee injury, David Murray who started on the bench together with second rows Tony Brown & Michael Blair who were both unavailable.
Donaghadee failed to secure clean ball from the home side’s kick off and within three minutes of the start Clogher Valley got their first points of the day with a sweetly struck penalty.
Both teams were reduced to fourteen men on the 15th minute when the Clogher Valley out-half took exception to what he believed was a late tackle by Donaghdee’s Chris Hamilton.
The home side were particularly strong during this ten minute period notching up two tries – one from deep in their own half after they broke from a period of Donaghadee dominance and the second from close range as their powerful ruck and maul started to fine tune their efforts for what was to be the home side’s most effective tactic for the remainder of the game.
Nigel Barkers’ trusted boot reduced the deficit to ten points on the 32nd minute with a successful penalty.
Although Donaghadee were very clearly out of sorts they began to grow in confidence as the first half drew to a close however in what turned out to be a defining three minutes of play the home side cruelly took advantage of two unforced errors in the Donagahdee backline and inflicted the ultimate punishment by scoring two further first half tries.
Half Time Donaghadee 3 Clogher Valley 23
In recent seasons Donaghadee have been particularly strong defensively however the first time tackling was not at these standards on Saturday and the home sides quick off load game left Donaghadee exposed all too often during this league encounter.
On the 45th minute the Clogher Valley extended their lead with a break away try as Donaghadee continued to mount a challenge on the game.
Donaghadee did get a deserved try for their efforts on the 52nd minute when McKenzie fed the oncoming Mark Cooper who did well to hug the left touchline without stepping over the white line and offload to Barker who still had work to do before touching down for a try that his own performance very much deserved.
Clogher Valley scored their 6th and final score of the day on the 60th minute after a double figure phase of play that patiently punched holes in the Dee defence before touching down from close range.
The late introduction of David Murray offered fresh legs to Donaghadee’s efforts and his tough tackling in the middle of the pitch helped keep the home side at bay in what was a subdued final quarter of the game.
A frustrating day for the Donaghadee team against an impressive Clogher Valley team who certainly avenged a very similar score line inflicted upon them at Donaldson Park in the final home game last season.
Donaghadee enjoy a distraction from league business this Saturday as they host Dundalk in the first round of the prestigious All Ireland Junior Cup.
Donaghadee had two exciting away adventures in this competition last year but will be delighted to bring this competition to Donaldson Park for what promises to be an exciting knock out encounter.
Team: M Cooper, B Allen, R Garnham, N Barker, R Irvine, P McKenzie, A Lockhart © , A Torrans, G Gordon, S Hennessey, M Ellis, J Cooke, S Thompson, C Hamilton, R Martindale. Subs: D Murray, P Collins
