CAVAN v DONAGHADEE
Match Reporter - Stephen Quinn

On Saturday 30th September, the Dee made the long trek to Cavan Rugby Club. The team was well supported with 35 seats filled on the team coach. It was a beautiful sunny day at Cavan, the pitch was in fantastic condition and all the indicators were present to suggest an entertaining running and passing game of rugby. When the teams came out for the kick-off, it was clear that the Dee were giving away a height and weight advantage to Cavan in all areas of play, particularly the pack, but the supporters trusted that the Dee’s superior skills and fitness would carry the day.

The match started with both sides showing a lack of concentration and control in the line-out and handling errors meant that possession changed hands on a number of occasions. This resulted in end to end play but, after a good drive by Matthew Johnson, the Dee were awarded a penalty and Cooper, at outside half, stepped up and converted into 3 points. On 20 minutes the Dee got another penalty after open-side flanker Hamilton and scrum half Johnson linked beautifully with a series of passes to make 30 yards before a Cavan infringement gave Cooper another chance of 3 points. It was 6-0 after 20 minutes but Cavan looked strong in the set scrum and were beginning to dominate play in that area until renowned scrummaging expert, Eddie Grant, called for a change of tactics in the front five and in no time the scrum was tightened up and the Dee won two penalties within 4 minutes. This put them on the front foot allowing Conor McKee at No 8 to drive strongly in the middle of the park, after which the ball was moved beautifully through eight passes for Chris McGivern to score in the right hand corner. This left the score on 11-0 to Donaghadee at 30 minutes and from the restart, Sam Ingham gathered the ball and made 20 metres in a strong run up the centre of the park. Unfortunately, a handling error gave the ball back to Cavan, but a great piece of work and a turnover by McKee, led to a yellow card for Cavan and from that point the Dee never looked to be under any pressure. On 37 minutes, after a strong run by Ingham, Rory Garnham powered through three tackles to score out wide bringing the score to 16-0 at half time.

H-T: 16-0

Cavan could not get onto the score sheet and after 5 minutes of the second half and as a result of a handling error by Cavan, the Dee back row linked well, the ball was recycled and a fluid passing move among the forwards led to Chris Hamilton forcing his way over the line to bring the score to 23-0. Paul Johnson continued to show a high level of skill with accurate kicking and a pick and drive game at both line-out and scrum that committed the Cavan back row. The Dee forwards were now getting the better of Cavan in all elements of forward play with the front row showing coordination and strength to push the opposition off the ball. A number of drives up the middle of the pitch and some excellent inter-passing among the forwards saw our player coach, Connor McKee, going over for another try, bringing the score to 30-0. Within another few minutes Johnson went over for the last try to bring the score to 37-0 and the referee decided to blow for time 15 minutes early.

F-T: 37-0

This was another strong display by Donaghadee who remain unbeaten this season with three bonus points already in the bag. What looked to be an evenly balanced match in the first 15 minutes, turned into a one-sided game in the second half with Donaghadee showing a much superior level of fitness and commitment. It was noticeable that there was a massive improvement in the scrummaging as the game wore on and it was clear that our front five were dominating with the front row showing power and commitment at every scrum with total domination. There were a number of excellent displays of talent and it would be difficult to single out any of the back row for individual praise with them all showing strongly , however, the dynamic Dino stood out for his tackle breaking ability. Scrum half, Paul Johnson, also had a great game, Sam Ingham continues to improve in all aspects of his play and Rory Garnham, in the centre, made some great ground and scored an excellent try. However, what was noticeable as the game wore on was that our tight forwards began to completely dominant the Cavan scrum and win all the loose ball.

Match Reporter MOTM: I would argue that prop, Adam Torrens is the most improved player this season and he just edges out a number of fine performances to win my nomination as man of the match.