LURGAN – 12
-v-
DONAGHADEE RFC – 10

A large group of supporters followed Donaghadee to Lurgan to see a top of the table clash. Both teams are unbeaten this season but Lurgan sit on top of the league due to 3 extra bonus points. It was a cold and damp day with a strong cross field wind giving little advantage to either side.

Lurgan dominated for the first 10 minutes. It was abundantly clear that their much heavier pack was going to dictate terms up front and they held the advantage in the set scrum for 90% of the match. This gave Lurgan a great platform to play from and the talk among the supporters was that Donaghadee were going to have to spin the ball wide and rely on their talented back line and the fitness and mobility of our pack. The Dee were beginning to make headway with their running game and there were a couple of promising breaks around the halfway line but the Lurgan tackling proved decisive and the Dee pack were well contained. On 15 minutes, the pressure from the Lurgan scrum began to take its toll and, after a number of phases in our 22, the Lurgan pack rolled around the back of the maul and eventually grounded the ball at the base of the Dee posts for the referee to award a try. 5 minutes later and after several darting runs took us into the Lurgan 22, the referee gave a penalty that was within kicking range for Cooper and he drove the ball through the posts from about 30 metres out. The problem in the set scrum was not going to be easily solved but the Dee forwards took it to the Lurgan pack in the loose and our half backs stood firm. The Dee got back up into the Lurgan 22; there were a number of short balls to our tight forwards who ran into crunching tackles that seemed to inspire both teams. On 33 minutes, there was a good forward drive and after 5 phases Ingham made 10 metres, the ball was swung out to the backs and after a scissors move in the centre Rory Garnham went over just to the right of the posts. Cooper converted to make it 7-10; Donaghadee at last in the lead.

After the restart, Lurgan were able to use their strength in the scrum which made room on the left of the park for their left wing to break our back line and slide in for a try in the corner. The conversion was missed, leaving the score at 12-10 to Lurgan at half time.

Both teams tried to play to their strengths in the second half. The Lurgan forwards tried to dominate mid-field and the Dee backs made a number of excellent breaks only to be thwarted by a last gasp tackle from the Lurgan cover defence. Around the 50 minute mark and after 7 phases of running play by Donaghadee, the referee awarded a penalty for a high tackle but, unfortunately, Cooper’s kick just dipped below the cross bar at the last moment. There was then a period of play that swung between the two 10 metre lines with no team gaining much advantage but on 72 minutes, after a high tackle, the referee showed a yellow card to a Lurgan forward and the Dee supporters thought that we would now have a chance of a score with Lurgan being reduced to 14 men for the rest of the game. The Dee did pressurise the Lurgan line, unfortunately we lost a scrum at only 8 metres out, there was then a period of running play with continuity of 11 phases demonstrating the Dee’s ability to hold the ball. The ball was swung out wide but unfortunately we didn’t use the extra man and the Lurgan cover defence pushed us into touch. In the last 5 minutes the extra man began to tell and the Dee began to drive the Lurgan scrum backwards. There was a period of sustained pressure on the Lurgan line with the Lurgan defence holding on for the final whistle. Just as Donaghadee were looking as though nothing could stop them scoring, the referee blew for full time exactly on the 80 minute mark without adding any extra time whatsoever.

This was a very disappointing result for Donaghadee, we had 2 or 3 good chances to score from open play and we probably should have been awarded a couple of penalties in the last 5 minutes when camped on the Lurgan line.

The Donaghadee team showed great resilience, they came back time and time again to pressurise the Lurgan line and our coaches did everything within their power to change the formation to make it difficult for Lurgan. My opinion is that we have the beating of this Lurgan side and we will be a very difficult team to beat when we meet Lurgan at home in the last match of the season. Both teams have a long season ahead of them, Lurgan have a couple of difficult away games and we now have a run of home games after we travel to Letterkenny on Saturday. We need to take every bonus point that is on offer to keep the pressure on the league leaders. I congratulate the squad on their attitude, endeavour and resilience. On another day, with a different bounce of the ball, we could have been 2 or 3 tries clear by half time. We will look at the positives coming out of this game and continue to play to our strengths.