CAVAN 17 DONAGHADEE 35
Match Reporter - Frank Humphreys

On Saturday, Donaghadee 1st Xv travelled to Co Cavan for their debut in the Gordon West Cup. With Cavan having won the competition last season, the trophy was proudly on display in the home team's Clubhouse and it was clear that a good performance would be required for the Dee to progress.

The game kicked off on a bright sunny day and the Dee immediately made ground into the Cavan 22 only for a penalty to clear the danger. However a kick by Mark Cooper followed-up by Matthew Stockton forced the home side to infringe and Cooper converted the penalty for 3 – 0 after 3 minutes.

The Dee were making all the running and after 21 minutes Cooper doubled the lead with a penalty from the Cavan 22. The first try of the game came six minutes later as the Dee ran back a speculative clearance and Chris Knox found a gap in the Cavan defence to run in from the 10-metre line. The conversion went narrowly wide but the Dee held a useful 11 point lead.

Unfortunately the Dee suffered a significant blow as Chis Hamilton was forced to leave the field with a serious-looking cut which was to require medical attention. The Dee scored again after 36 minutes as a massive shove caused disruption to a Cavan scrum allowing Paul Johnston to steal the ball and sprint 40 metres for a try converted by Cooper. The referee blew shortly afterwards for half-time with the scoreline 18 – 0 in favour of the visitors.

The early stages of the second-half showed that Cavan had decided to adopt a more physical approach by keeping the ball among their forwards. This allowed the home team to make ground on several occasions only for their handling to let them down at the crucial time. It was rather against the run of play that the Dee extended their lead as a turnover outside the Cavan 22 was moved to the left-wing for Chris Knox to score his second try of the game. This left the score at 23 – 0 after 50 minutes.

Cavan continued to press and a lineout steal almost produced a score but they were repelled by the Dee defence. The home side were awarded a couple of penalties inside the Dee 22 and went to the corner for the line-out catch and drive. From the second attempt, Cavan crossed the line with the conversion making the score 23 – 7 half-way through the second half.

This reverse spurred the Dee to respond and they did so with a further try. A penalty was taken quickly by Paul Johnston and Danny McBride took advantage of the disorganised defence to score for 28 – 7.

With six minutes remaing there was still time for plenty of action. Firstly the Cavan full-back gathered his own chip-ahead to take the home side to 12 points. Following a short injury break, a break by Knox allowed McBride to score his second with Cooper adding the conversion. Finally a powerful drive by the Cavan scrum in the Dee 22 which led to a try by the home No 8 completed the days entertainment leaving the final score Cavan 17 Donaghadee 35.

Congratulations to the team who coped well with the absence of some influential players before and during the game to reach the semi-final. The game was again well-refereed by Teddy Sloan and thanks are due to the Co. Cavan Club for their hospitality before and after the game.

MOTM = Matthew "Dino" Johnston

The next pre-match lunch is on Sat 3rd March at 12.30pm prior to our home game v Monaghan, please contact John Blewitt to book in.