Donaghadee 1st XV welcomed Ballymena 2nd XV to Donaldson Park on Saturday afternoon in what was the host’s first home game of the season and their second in the Conference League, after the away defeat in Omagh last week. These two games have been welcomed by the Coaching Team in Donaghadee as ideal preludes to the first league game at Larne in two weeks’ time not least because ten to twelve of the senior squad remain unavailable until that point due to a combination of injury, holidays and work commitments. With skipper Matthew Stockton unavailable Vice-Captain Chris Hamilton assumed the reigns and took to the field with what was an unfamiliar line-up to the supporters on the sideline. Conversely Ballymena had the benefit of being able to field a full-strength side due to their 1st XV having a bye in the Senior Cup.

The Eaton Park men started strongly and got points on the board after only seven minutes play when their strong scrummaging set up an ideal platform to unleash their threequarters and their nippy scrum-half eluded the home defence from the ensuing ruck to score a converted try and leave the Dee trailing by 7-0. Ballymena continued to pile on the pressure and the Dee faithful were fearing that the young & inexperienced squad might capitulate when a succession of strong tackles from the Dee back row of skipper Hamilton, Sam Ingham and Chris Scott stymied the opposition’s progress. With twenty minutes played the silky running of the Braidmen’s backs threatened once again but right-wing Robbie Ingham saved the day with a last-ditch tackle and the danger was overcome with the home side clearing their lines. This was to prove a turning point in the Dee’s fortunes and for the remainder of the half they put their opponents under significant pressure through the strong driving of Owen Roberts, Phil Collins, Jack Chesney and Scott together with the running and handling skills of Danny McBride, Mark Cooper and Chris McGivern in midfield all released by the excellent service provided by Ollie Hamilton at scrum-half. The Dee threatened Ballymena’s line on a number of occasions and left-wing Ben Siri was unlucky to be thwarted on at least two occasions. Sadly the Dee turned ball over pressing the opposition’s line in the third minute of injury time and Ballymena moved menacingly up the field before an intricate back move allowed their left-wing to squeeze in at the corner. The difficult conversion was successful and the game reached half-time with Donaghadee trailing by 14-0.

Unperturbed by their late setback in the first half Donaghadee started the second in determined fashion and pressed from the outset. Scrum-half Hamilton now had the measure of the opposition and varied his play beautifully to both release his backs seamlessly and also bring the Dee’s impressive back row and carrying forwards into play. The home side’s scrum now had settled and the front row of Chesney, Collins and Morgan Macartney supported by Roberts and the mercurial Ossie Gordon in the second row was providing solid ball on their own head and significantly disrupting the opposition on theirs. Eight minutes into the second half this platform provide the opportunity for the Dee to produce an intricate back move of their own from which home debutant Jonny Bell crashed over in the corner to score – McBride adding the difficult conversion. Unfortunately Bell was injured in the act of scoring and was to play no further part in the game. The Dee were buoyed by their reducing the deficit to 14-7 and continued to press from various facts of play with Sam Ingham, Roberts, Chesney, the two Hamiltons and McGivern particularly prominent. The latter was cruelly denied by a tap tackle on the five metre line and the Braidmen cleared the danger. Davy Skipp and Ryan Baxter both entered the fray from the bench and played their part in attempting to draw level but, for their part, Ballymena always remained dangerous and only stout defence from the home side prevented the former from extending their lead. On seventy minutes the match was brought to a premature close when a collapsed scrum on their own five metre line led to a neck injury to Dee second-row Ryan Baxter. After a paramedic had attended the injured player an ambulance was called and both sides agreed to an early finish with the result standing at 14-7 to Ballymena.

A losing Conference League bonus point was scant reward for Donaghadee’s efforts against a strong Ballymena outfit but the Coaching Team will be more than happy with the application of the seventeen men representing the Club on the day. We now look forward to welcoming Towns Cup holders Enniskillen to Donaldson Park next Saturday in the First Round of the Junior Cup. Man of the Match this week was not an easy decision with Chesney, Roberts, Chris Hamilton, McBride, McGivern, Siri & Cooper all putting their hands up. At the end of the day it was too hard to separate them so the MoM Award is shared between Sam Ingham and Ollie Hamilton who both put in extremely impressive shifts.

Finally, we are delighted to report that Ryan’s injury was not as serious as first suspected and he will be out for month after suffering a torn ligament in his neck. Thanks are due to all those from the Club who assisted during this incident, those from other clubs who sent best wishes and also the IRFU Charitable Trust who made contact with Club within an hour of the injury occurring.