DONAGHADEE 2nd XV 44 CITY OF DERRY 3rd XV 0
On a fine day for rugby the 2nd XV welcomed City of Derry 3rd XV to Donaldson Park with the prize for victory being securing of promotion to J3.
From the outset the Dee set down the marker for the afternoon with half-backs Chris Scott and Mark Cooper releasing their back five at every opportunity. The City of Derry defence was soon punctured when the flying Andy McGrugan was sent in for a score to open up a 5-0 lead. The Judges Road men now took to offence via their hard running second rows & No. 8 but were unable to breach an extremely obdurate Dee defence whose discipline was admirable in the face of sustained opposition attacks. A penalty was won for not releasing and Cooper kicked to the corner before Chris McGivern was released from a training paddock move following the ensuing lineout and the speedy centre crossed under the posts. Cooper added the extras to leave the Dee with a 12-0 lead. With Owen Roberts, Sam Ingham, Rhys Thompson and Matthew Johnston prominent in the loose forward exchanges another try was always on the cards & it eventually arrived when Ingham barged his way over close to the line allowing Cooper to convert to stretch the Dee lead to 19-0. As the first-half came to a close skipper Stephen Cullen repeated the dose with an unconverted try leaving the half-time score at 24-0 to the home side.
In the early moments of the second-half City of Derry pressed once again through their heavier pack but, once again, were exposed to the Dee’s excellent technique in the tackle and on the ground leading to a plethora of turnover ball which was ruthlessly exploited to the full when Roberts crossed for the first try of the second period. Although still competing manfully at this point City of Derry were suffering from the Dee’s greater fitness and home No. 8 Jonny Stewart’s powerful drives with ball in hand. The sixth, and best, try of the afternoon came when a polished Dee backs move from inside their own twenty-two eventually reached full-back Dicky Bailey who outpaced a number of despairing opposition tackles to score in the corner and bring the score to 34-0. With City of Derry now trying to play catch-up rugby the ball was turned over by the Dee in opposition territory before Stewart broke from the ensuing ruck and, with only the full-back to beat chose route one and duly ran over the hapless defender to score. Far from resting on their laurels Donaghadee returned to the attack through three-quarters Davy Kirkpatrick and Andy Cash who punched holes the defence to allow Josh McCullough to cross in the corner for the final score of the afternoon and the eighth try in all.
An extremely entertaining afternoon’s rugby then from a side who have grown in confidence and ability throughout the season – promotion being well-earned recompense for the squad’s efforts both in training and on match days. Although many plaudits are due special mention is reserved for Coach John West and the manner in which he has transformed 2nd XV rugby in Donaghadee since arriving in the summer of 2013. His young side are a pleasure to watch and their promotion to J3 (together with a Forster Cup Semi-Final) suitable reward for the efforts both Coach & players have put in over the past two seasons. Great thanks also goes to Jimmy McCoy who has stood as Coach when John West has had to remain with the 1st XV fulfilling his Club Assistant Coach role, John Blewitt who fulfilled a similar role to Jimmy earlier in the season, Club Coach Paul McKenzie, senior player Paul Blewitt who exerted his not inconsiderable influence & experience on the side prior to his recall to the 1st XV, S&C Coach Paddy McGrattan and last, but not least, 2nd XV Captain Stephen Cullen who has led from the front.
BALLYNAHINCH EVERGREENS 29 DONAGHADEE 3rd XV 7
On Saturday, Donaghadee 3rd Xv travelled to Ballymacarn Park to play Minor League East 2 league winners Ballynahinch 7th XV “The Evergreens”. With the Evergreens only loss being to Dee 3s at Donaldson Park earlier this season, the Evergreens were undoubtedly keen to ensure that this would be reversed in the return fixture.
With team captain Andy Monson being unavailable, pack leader Ozzie Gordon took charge leading from the front. With both teams keen to stamp their mark on the game early, the Evergreens proved to be the first team to string a few passes together and slip through the sleepy Dee defence on two occasions early in the first half. In disbelief at these early points, an increase in the aggression levels in the Dee attack was not welcomed by the Evergreens which resulted in a “fracas” breaking out close to the half way line after only five minutes. Having been unsighted, the referee caught a glimpse of Andy Jarvis with his fists in the air and automatically produced a red card. The Evergreen contributor to the incident escaped with a yellow card.
The Dee continued to defend well and exert pressure on the Evergreen defence with the forwards working several pick and go phases with runs from Mark Poole, Ozzie Gordon, and Stuart Thompson all being held up at the Evergreen five metre line. When the binned Evergreen returned to the field of play, the Dee missed Andy Jarvis in the back line which the Evergreens continued to exploit and score breakaway tries through the gap in the defence despite being chased down by Phil Eager and Philip Weston. With ten minutes to go in the first half, Stuart Thompson made a break from a maul in the direction of the Evergreen try line but was brought down short before setting up another phase. With the Evergreens defending well, the pack drove over the ball to clean out the ruck and Ozzie Gordon picked up the ball but was forced into touch. The whistle was blown for half time – Hinch 22 Dee 0.
Having switched ends for the second half, the Dee men were now playing into a fairly strong wind, however, the half time team talk from Ozzie Gordon brought about a game plan which resulted in the away side waking up and playing a much more organised game. The Dee pack were able to secure the ball, allowing the scrum half to feed the ball out to the backs for incisive runs from Graham Gowdy, supported by Gareth Doherty and Mark Nicholl. Continued pressure on the Evergreen defence was finally rewarded with a penalty try being awarded, which was converted by Gareth Doherty, bringing the score to 22-7. Shortly after the restart, the Evergreens responded with another breakaway try late in the second half which was converted. With the score line sitting at 29-7 the referee blew the whistle bringing an end to a disappointing day in the office.
Despite the score line not going in their favour, Donaghadee 3s can take a lot of positives from the game and reflect on lessons learnt in advance of the Butler Shield Final. Additionally, they can pride themselves at being one of the few teams in the league to travel to Ballynahinch to fulfil what is always going to be a difficult game against a talented team. Finishing fourth in the league also represents a significant improvement on recent years and will hopefully be a stepping stone to an even better finish next season.
On behalf of the 3rds squad, a big vote of thanks goes to Andy Monson who has dedicated a lot of his personal time to get a team out each & every Saturday and has brought ever growing numbers to social “touch” rugby on Thursday nights throughout the season.
FIXTURES
With the 1st XV having completed their league & cup programme for the year the only game this Saturday id for the 2nd XV who travel to Eaton Park to play Ballymena IV with a 2:30pm kick-off whilst the 3rd XV rest up in advance of the Butler Shield Final against Armoy 1st XV at Larne RFC on Saturday 11th April 2015 – again with a 2:30pm kick-off.
