DONAGHADEE 7 INSTONIANS 38
Testament to Donaghadee’s groundsmen gurus John Blewitt, Ken Ross & Francis Porter that this game got underway at all given the horrendous amount of rain that poured down through the week just past. Conditions, though heavy at times, were eminently playable and the game got underway with sunshine overhead. Instonians started strongly and from a ruck close to the Dee five metre line their impressive No. 9 Matthew Keane duped the Dee defence and nipped in for an early try after cutting back on the home drift defence to give the Belfast men a 5-0 lead. The Dee struck back ten minutes later after absorbing Instonians pressure they were awarded a penalty which Mark Cooper kicked to the corner. Although the initial drive from the resulting lineout was held up the Dee worked through the phases to allow tight-head Chris Good to power over the line to leave the sides level before Cooper added the extras to leave the home side 7-5 in the lead. Not to be outdone Instonians brought play back into Dee territory from the re-start and a series of well worked mauls resulted in their hooker Glenn Baxter go over for a converted try. At 12-7 against the Dee were competing well and were unfortunate when a lapse of concentration led to a turnover which led to Instonians scoring through their tight-head Josh Cregan to leave the home side a slightly unlucky 19-7 down at half-time.
Instonians attacked relentlessly as the second half began but sterling defence – especially from Dee skipper Alastair Lockhart – kept them out. A series of scrums on the Dee five metre line ensued and Instonians were awarded a penalty try when it seemed to the home supporters that it was the Belfast side’s front row who were infringing rather than their counterparts. Once again the Dee had garnered little from their efforts but continued to test the Instonians defence with a concerted effort from both backs and forwards. Once again a lapse of concentration came back to haunt Donaghadee when Instonians centre Joe Fryers picked up a loose ball and ran forty metres to score under the posts. As has been the case in recent weeks the Dee then began to play some impressive catch-up rugby but dogged Instonians defence left the home side exposed on the fringes and their left winger Robbie Kirk, capitalised to score the final try of the day in the corner to leave the final score 38-7 in favour of the league leaders.
Although ultimately this result was disappointing for the Dee there will be no little consolation from their performance which asked more than a few questions of their well drilled opponents and the margin of victory was perhaps a little flattering for the Instonians men. Dogged performances from Adam Torrans and Gareth Gordon alongside Good in the front row allied to a strong showing from second-rows Stephen Cullen & Kyle Morrow was complemented by the high work rate and fighting spirit of back row Stephen Adams (pictured), Matthew Stockton and Chris Hamilton. The irrepressible Lockhart renewed his half back partnership with Head Coach Paul McKenzie who had his best game of the season in the red and green. Centres Andy Findlater and Cooper performed well in another renewed partnership and both wingers Ryan Irvine and Thomas Slane had excellent outings. Full back Billy Allen dealt with all that sent his way in terms of high ball and substitutes Matthew Martin & Rhys Thompson each added a significant contribution when they came on to the field. The side has found some difficulty in “clicking” this season but the portents would suggest this is not far away and the imminent return of some notables from injury and unavailability will leave the Dee men confident that they can reverse the hitherto disappointing results from the first third of the league campaign.
