Donaghadee welcomed league pace setters Ballymoney to Donaldson Park on an overcast but dry afternoon. The Dee knew the men from the Toon would present a huge challenge given that their pedigree preceded them plus the fact that the home side were missing five personnel from last week’s win at Lisburn and none of those missing for that game were able to return. Andrew Wright & Simon Crowe came in on the wings, Chris Scott and Jonny Gamble joined the pack and Cameron Malcolm and Jeff Anderson came onto the bench.

With four minutes gone Dee No. 9 Robbie Ingham was caught offside at a ruck and the Toon 10 converted the simple penalty kick. Despite pressing for a considerable period after this set-back Donaghadee were caught napping in defence and Ballymoney created the extra man to score a converted try in the corner with ten minutes played. Five minutes later a speculative kick out of defence by Ballymoney caught Dee full-back Chris McGivern on the chest and ball bounced into the grateful grasp of a Toon follower who raced away to score under the posts. The score at this point of 0-17 was not a reflection of the game but clearly had a dispiriting effect on the Dee men and, with twenty minutes played they fell to a strong lineout drive and rollover from Ballymoney to leave the visitors with a 0-24 lead. Seven minutes later the Toon switched their focus to a succession of driving mauls which eventually broke down the Dee defence to give the visitors a 0-31 lead and, in so doing, the bonus point. Donagahdee were now spurred into action and led by strong driving from Jack Chesney, Ally Barnes and Ray Dobson created significant pressure for the next ten minutes in the Ballymoney red zone. However the Dee men were not able to break down the strong opposition defence and half-time was reached with no further change to the scoreboard.

The Dee started the second half with renewed vigour pressing for the first five minutes in the Toon twenty-two. With forty five minutes played Dee outhalf Mark Cooper released a flat pass to Dee prop Barnes to, having taken a great line, proceeded to burst through the visiting defence and print to the line from the twenty-two mark, Cooper adding the extras. Two minutes superb offensive defence from the Dee back row and centre Matthew Stockton resulted in McGivern snapping up loose ball and outpacing the opposition defenders to score in the right hand corner which remained unconverted. With the score now sitting at 12-31 the home support were now entertaining thoughts of a try and maybe even a losing point but alas an excellent Ballymoney threequarter movement (albeit with a very suspicious forward pass in the middle of it) led to the Toon left wing scoring a converted try in the corner. The Dee were now playing catch-up rugby threatening on more than one occasion through Stockton, Chris Hamilton and Adam Alexander but twice were caught out in attack and the subsequent turnovers allowed the opposition to score a further fourteen points to leave the final score when the referee blew his whistle for no side at 12-52 which not only slightly flattered the visitors but also fell short of just reward for Donaghadee’s efforts in the final twenty minutes.

After four wins on the bounce in the league the Dee were brought back to earth against opposition who will surely challenge leaders Limavady for honours come season’s end. More than a few seasoned veterans on the side-line agreed that the Ballymoney men were one of the most talented and well-drilled sides to have visited Donaldson Park in the last ten years. For their part Donaghadee will have learned valuable lessons from the defeat and will now target the home game to Larne in two week’s time as the next step in their recent recovery by which time, it is hoped, at least some of the host of currently injured personnel will once again be available.

In these circumstances Man of the Match was not easy to call but one could not go past the peerless Chris Hamilton whose belligerence in defence, quality on the ground and creativity in attack stood out all afternoon.

Next week attention turns to the First Round of the Towns Cup when Donaghadee will travel to Banbridge with a 2:30pm kick-off at Rifle Park.