DONAGHADEE 1st XV 15 LISBURN 1st XV 20
Donaghadee welcomed Lisburn to Donaldson Park with conditions wet and windy & the pitch soft underfoot but very playable – testament to the efforts of the ground staff over the past few weeks. The home side rang the changes again with a couple of unavailabilities meaning Davy Kirkpatrick and Dicky Bailey stepped into the fray.
The Dee began strongly playing towards the town and a sustained period of pressure led to a precision Paul Blewitt pass letting Kirkpatrick split the Lisburn defence before the ensuing pass was not held and the chance was lost. Lisburn managed themselves out of their own territory and, in their first attack after eight minutes the ball was spun left after successive quick balls from second and third phase and their speedy winger crashed in at the corner to open the day’s scoring with an unconverted try. With the elements on their backs the Dee returned to attack and pressed the visitors but were unable to profit until the twenty second minute when the elusive Mark Cooper was set free and glided in for an excellent score which was converted by Andy McGrugan. Six minutes later the Lisburn full back kick for touch from deep in his own twenty-two only for the wind to catch ball and blow back towards the visitor’s line. Cooper was first to react and won the race to touch down in the far left-hand corner. This time McGrugan was unsuccessful with the conversion. With four minutes of the half remaining the Dee continued to press through the efforts of Jack Cooke and Chris Hamilton and eventually the visiting defence caved in and leaked a penalty on the twenty-two in front of the posts which McGrugan duly converted to leave the Dee with a 15-5 half-time lead.
With elements now squarely on their backs Lisburn started the second period strongly and a string of Dee errors forced them onto their own five metre line where a succession of Lisburn scrums resulted in the referee awarding them a penalty try. With the simple conversion in the bag the away side were now only three points behind and obviously buoyed by their new found confidence with ball in hand. On fifty eight minutes the Dee were comfortably repelling a succession of Lisburn attacks when what looked like an innocuous Lisburn foray into the Dee twenty two left the ball reaching there right wing who, with no little skill, stepped his opposite number before a foot slip in the remaining defence allowed him to score in the corner. The try remained unconverted but Lisburn now led by two points. Try as they might to get back into the game the Dee were undone by failing continuity and indiscipline in open play. Cooke, Hamilton, Chris Good, Gareth Gordon and Matthew Johnston all made strong runs into the opposition defence but the game was being played at halfway due to the weather conditions and the home side lacked the incision required to break the Lisburn defence. Eventually, with two minutes of normal time left to play, Lisburn were awarded a penalty on the Dee ten metre line and, with the aid of the wind, the ensuing kick split the posts to leave them five points behind. Opportunities for the Dee to draw level accrued over the next few minutes but were ultimately spurned and the referee whistled for no side leaving the Dee on the wrong side of a 20-15 score line.
The losing bonus point will be of little compensation to the Dee who never really came to terms with what was needed to come out as victors and they will reflect ruefully on a first half when they patently did not use the advantage of the prevailing weather conditions to best effect. On a positive note it was pleasing to see Cooke back on the pitch after a month out with injury and it is also a bonus to see Paul Hamilton coming off the bench to add his own brand physicality to the side. The squad will now regroup, put in some hard work on the training paddock over the incoming week and look forward to the game against old adversaries Coleraine in the North West next Saturday.
LISBURN 2nd XV 29 DONAGHADEE 2nd XV 5
Coming off the back of an improving performance last week in the Cup the Dee 2s travelled to their Lisburn counterparts. This season has proved a testing challenge for the 2nd XV after gaining promotion last season a change to the league structure has led to a completely revamped Junior 3 League which now contains both 1st and 2nd XVs.
Again weather conditions would have a heavy influence and dictate game plans with strong winds and heavy rain. During the warm up it was clear Dee were going to have to start with fourteen men due to two players pulling out very late in the day and consequently there was no chance of getting replacements to Lisburn in time. However the fourteen Dee men led by a young Chade Gelderman (pictured), who had been handed the Captain’s armband by Stevie Cullen, got down to work very quickly and Lisburn soon knew the Dee “14” would be no pushovers. After a try by the home team the Dee men started to play some good rugby but Lisburn broke and scored again. However the Dee rallied and after a strong fifty metre run by Andy Cash he was in the process of being tackled five metres fom the opposition line when Gelderman was on hand for the offload and dive over the line for Dee’s first and only score. With half time approaching the Dee lost Aaron Caughey to a shoulder injury and finished the half with 13 men and 12-5 down.
Lisburn got a severe tongue-lashing at half time about letting thirteen men dictate the game for the fifteen minutes at the end of the first half and came out re-invigorated to score two more tries during which time the Dee lost Mark Mitchell to a knee injury, having only come back on ten minutes earlier. Now down to twelve men the pride and passion of the Donaghadee men still shone brightly on a dark dismal winter’s day. Lisburn went on to score one more try and win the game by a 29-5 margin.
A lot of positives came out of the game however with Adam Torrens, Ben McCartney, Andy Mitchell and Gareth Martin, along with the rest of the pack, showing a real appetite for the fight ahead. In the backs hard running Kyle McGifford ,Cash & Niall McGrattan, watched over by the ever mellowing Andy Jarvis, showed they have what it takes and with the young half back partnership of Robbie Ingham and Gelderman the Dee can now look to the future with some confidence.
CIVIL SERVICE 2nd XV 0 DONAGHADEE 3rd XV 38
On a blustery day at Stormont, a younger than usual Dee came out on top in this entertaining McCambley Cup tie. Although the scoreline may flatter the Dee a little in what was an evenly contested game throughout, it was the Dee mens’ determination in defence and clinical handling on the counter attack that led to some second half break away tries, with forwards and backs linking well against the elements, to finish this fixture with a comfortable victory.
The dee started the game with the fresh breeze on the backs and half backs Monson and Doherty used the elements well to gain territorial advantage. Some good defensive work and pressure from the back row of James Cheshire, Stuart Hutchison and relative newcomer Aaron Wilkinson kept the pressure on the opposition but it was the tight five who put the first points on the board, after some strong drives from McCracken and Jonny Ballagh, Mark Poole powered over from close range and showed good slight of hand to stretch and dot the ball onto the whitewash. With the last play of the half, following a good midfield break by the fleet footed Marcus Gibson, quick recycling by his centre partner Ryan Campbell and Mark Nicholl saw Hutchinson released to slide over for the Donaldson Park side’s second score which was converted by Doherty. Half time 12-0 to Donaghadee.
The second half started with a bang with two quick scores for the visiting side both converted by Doherty. The elements forcing the Dee to run the ball was proving much more fruitful and strong yards out wide were being gained by the pacey young back three of Jonathan Henry, Scott Gardiner and Chris Hughes on the back of with continuous telling breaks from the midfield strongmen Gibson & Campbell. Some solid play from the Service lads led to an extended period of pressure within the Dee 22 and a rare gap was found in the visiting midfield which the Service 13 darted through only to be pulled back by the referee for a forward pass. The Dee went on to close out the game with a few more scores and a touchline conversion against the elements by the evergreen Doherty.
THIS WEEK
The 1st XV travel to renew old rivalries this weekend against Coleraine whilst the 2nd & 3rd XVs are both at home with the former entertaining Portadown 2nd XV and the latter welcoming Armagh 4th XV to Donaldson Park. All games are scheduled to kick-off at 2:30pm.
PRE-MATCH CHRISTMAS LUNCH
On Saturday 19th December 2015 Donaghadee 1st XV welcome Enniskillen 1st XV to Donaldson Park for the last home league game of the year and there will a two course lunch at a cost of £10 catered by Bow Belles. Festivities commence at 1pm and, as places are already filling up and in order to finalise catering arrangements, the Club would encourage all of those interested in attending to contact Bertie Bell as soon as possible to book their spot.
VARSITY – MAX MONTGOMERY
For the second year in a row Donaghadee 1st XV player Max Montgomery will feature in the Oxford v Cambridge Varsity Match at Twickenham today (Thursday) – kick-off 2:30pm. This year, however, Max will win his second Blue for Cambridge starting at hooker as opposed to coming off the bench as he did last time out. Interesting to note the one of Max’s teammates on the Light Blues will be the British Lions & Wales centre Jamie Roberts. Max was educated at Bangor Grammar School and then progressed to Cambridge where he is in his final year reading Law. Whilst at school Max represented Ulster Schools at hooker before joining Donaghadee on leaving where he played in the 2014 Powerade Towns Cup Final at Ravenhill. All at the Club wish Max every success in the match and trust that he will help to bring Oxford’s recent run of victories to a halt.
