Match report by Geoff Ingham

Donaghadee welcomed CIYMS to Donaldson Park on Saturday for a friendly in what turned out to be excellent preparation for the upcoming league fixtures. The opposition play in the league above the Dee so head coach, Paul Blewitt, knew they would provide a stern test for his team. It was also great to see that he was able to include three players in the squad from the Dee Academy, Ben Beattie, Adam Finlay and Adam Russell who were making their debut for the senior team.

The rain fell persistently throughout the game so both teams had to adjust their tactics accordingly due to the moist conditions. Therefore, the crowd were not treated to a free-flowing running game but still enjoyed a good competitive match from start to finish. The Dee started the game well and for the first 10 minutes saw a lot of the ball and some good forward drives from the likes of Ray Dobson, Ewan McCracken and Will Hopes helped the Dee gain important territory. When CI had possession the Dee’s defence was sound and on one occasion the danger was snuffed out by an excellent turnover by winger Chris McGivern. A CI forward was sent to the bin after 12 minutes for a high tackle but the Dee could not take advantage of the extra man. In fact, on the 15 minute mark a handling error by the Dee allowed the CI centre to kick through into space and the scrum half picked up and scampered over for the opening try which was converted.

Dee continued to see plenty of the ball but the CI defence proved difficult to break down and the Dee found it difficult to create real scoring opportunities. Both sides were being penalised at regular intervals as they wrestled with the new laws at the ruck so the stop/start manner of the game made it difficult for either team to dominate. On the half hour, the Dee were penalised on their 22 and the CI scrum half took a quick tap and darted through to score a second try which was the converted to bring the score to 14-0 in CI’s favour.

The third quarter saw the Dee have their best period of the match. Initially it was all about their defence which continued to impress with Will Richards, Matthew Stockton and Chris Hamilton all putting in a number of big hits and some critical turnovers were won which allowed Mark Cooper to relieve the pressure by kicking to touch. The Dee spent the next 10 minutes encamped inside the CI 22 but despite drive after drive by almost all of the Dee pack, in particular Jack Chesney and Davy Skipp, the CI defence stood firm and the Dee were unable to cross the line.

The final quarter was also a closely contested affair with most of the play being in the Dee half. Yet again the Dee’s defence was excellent with the likes of Sam Ingham, Dobson and Karl Yellop putting in tackle after tackle. However, eventually the pressure told and the CI centre crossed for the final try of the game which again was converted to leave the final score 21-0 to CI.

A useful outing for the Dee before their league campaign starts next week at home to Academy and a match which will have given the coach a few difficult selection decisions, which can only auger well for the season ahead.