Hopes were high for the Dee’s return return to Championshiop 2 rugby when they travelled to Glynn to meet Larne on Saturday. Although the Dee were without skipper Matthew Stockton, Paul Johnston, Ben Siri, Jonny Gamble and Jonny Bell the upside was the return of Karl Yellop for his season debut, deputising for long-term injury victim Adam Alexander, Ally Barnes and both Ewan McCracken & Jack Chesney to the bench.

Donaghadee, playing with the hill and the slope, started extremely strongly with Ray Hobson, stand in skipper Chris Hamilton and Stephen Adams prominent in early exchanges. For the first twenty minutes most of the pressure came from the Co. Down side but it was not until the 24th minute when Matthew Mingout went blind from a ruck ten metres out and found Adams who slipped the ball to blindside Chris Scott who went over in the corner, Yellop adding the extras. The Dee continued to press but too often were undone by an untidy pass or lack of concentration in attack. Larne duly returned upfield and on the 30 minute mark drove over from a five metre lineout and converted the ensuing to level the scores at 7-7. Approaching half-time Yellop broke through midfield on the halfway mark and fed centre partner Chris McGivern. With only the Larne left wing to beat McGivern delivered what looked like a scoring pass to right-wing Robbie Ingham on for the Larne player to deliberately knock the ball on. Although the Dee won the penalty the Larne player was allowed to remain on the field which was to prove crucial as, in the sixth minute of injury time, the same player finished off a slick move from the home backline to score in the corner and leave the half-time score at 12-7 to the Larne men.

Sadly Donaghadee had to make an enforced change at halftime when injured outhalf Mark Cooper was unable to continue. Full-back Danny McBride moved into the No. 10 slot, with McGivern moving to 15 and Scott moving out of the pack and into the centre position. For the first fifteen minutes of the second half Donaghadee pressed again and put their opponents under significant pressure. Too often however poor line and out of hand kicking let Larne off the hook and on the 55 minute mark a set play from a scrum on the Dee 22 allowed the Larne No. 10 to break and put his right winger away, albeit with a suspected forward pass, to score an unconverted try. The Dee were still in the game at this stage but, once again, two missed line kicks allowed Larne to counter attack with their outhalf feeding a reverse pass to his Ulster Juniors scrum-half Ryan Garrett to ran under the post for the bonus point try – 24-7 to Larne. Three minutes later however McGivern gave the Dee fresh impetus when he decided to run from his own 22 making ground to the opposition ten metre line before feeding the supporting Sam Ingham. The ball was rucked clear and a succession of drives led to Chesney going over. The conversion was missed and the Dee continued to look dangerous until the 73rd minute when a delicious offload in midfield allowed Garrett to race under the posts. Far from letting their heads go down the Dee bounce back five minutes later when Adams crashed over from a lineout drive to peg the score back to 31-19 following Yellop’s conversion. Any thoughts of a try scoring bonus point were dispelled however on 80 minutes when another superb midfield interchange allowed Larne to score. Two minutes later, a now disheartened Dee side, found themselves stretched and the Larne left-wing went in for the final score of the day.

Although the final scoreline possibly flattered the Larne men a little Donaghadee will have been disappointed with both their failure to capitalise on their opportunities and their game management. They will also need to take a close look at their open field defence although there is no doubt the enforced change to the backline at halftime negatively impacted on the side’s defensive organisation. The more pleasing aspect from the afternoon will have been the side’s undoubted abilities when on attack although the failure to deliver on occasion will remain a worry. Man of the Match was contested by the likes of Hamilton, Sam Ingham and Dobson but the strong carrying Adams was just pipped on this occasion by Chris McGivern who put in an excellent shift in an unfamiliar position.

The Dee now look forward to welcoming league favourites Limavady to Donaldson Park next Saturday but will know that there will need to be a lot of hard work put in on the training pitch during the course of the incoming week.