The Dee welcomed Bangor to Donaldson Park for the re-invention of the Rodney Gray Cup. With the match being played on the bottom pitch due to the continuing remedial work on the senior pitch Donaghadee started the stronger of the two sides. Stout Bangor defence kept their opponents at bay however until, between them, Mark Cooper and skipper Matthew Stockton combined superbly to let the former go over for the first try of the game. Having their line breached sparked the visitors into action however and, before long, they had drawn level, after a sustained period of pressure on the Dee line. Donaghadee struck back after a barnstorming run from No. 8 Chris Scott who broke a succession of tackles in running from his opponent's ten metre line to score. Half time was reached with no further scoring - 10-5 in favour of the home side.

Both sides took the opportunity to make multiple changes in the second half which, as often happens in these circumstances, led to a lessening of continuity. Bangor, however, looked the stronger and Donaghadee's efforts were stymied by a succession of penalties conceded. The home side was further hindered when No. 10 Cooper was yellow carded for what looked like an innocuous tackle as his opposite number slipped as he lost his footing. Being one man light initially hampered the Dee and Bangor scored a well worked team try to tie the scores up at 10-10. The home side welcomed Cooper back to the field after his allotted ten minute break and pressed hard towards the Bangor line. The Dee pack upped their game led by the irrepressible Chris Hamilton but unfortunately that last pass or line-break failed to materialise and scores remained at 10-10 until frustrations on both sides boiled over with one player from each club receiving a pre-season red card on final whistle. An explosive end to the game then but that is not to detract from an encounter which, although extremely competitive and keenly contested as one would expect a derby to be, was really useful as both clubs look forward to their seasons proper commencing.

From Donaghadee's perspective this was a significant step-up on their performance last week against Academy and with in excess of ten players missing yesterday due to holidays or other commitments the Coaching Staff will be looking forward to the start of the competitive season on September 8th when they travel to Greenisland to meet B.H.S.F.P.