Match report by Geoff Ingham

Donaghadee travelled to Limavady on Saturday, more in hope than expectation, to play the league leaders. Although the Dee have had an excellent start to the season with three wins, they have paid a heavy price in terms of injuries which has severely tested the club’s playing resources. However, the situation provides opportunities for others and it was excellent to see Chris Connelly, Sergio Oliva and Dylan Robinson make their 1st XV league debuts and Paul Hamilton make a welcome return to the Dee. Conditions were ideal for running rugby, although a strong breeze was blowing across the pitch. Dee kicked off and for the first five minutes had most of the possession and tested the Limavady defence on several occasions. However, when Limavady got their hands on the ball they were impressive, with a well-drilled forward pack making strong runs and a backline that looked sharp. In a 15 minute spell they crossed the line on three occasions when good moves were finished off in both corners of the pitch. Two conversions were successful as Limavady raced into a 19-0 lead. To their credit the Dee heads did not drop and for the next 10 minutes they put together some good phases of play, one of which produced a try of their own. After a couple of good forward drives the ball was moved across the backline and Sam Ingham ran an excellent line to break through the Limavady defence before offloading and the backs showed good hands to put young Adam Russell in at the corner to score his first try for the Dee. Mark Cooper was unfortunate with the difficult conversion when it rebounded off the upright. For the next ten minutes the Dee worked hard to keep Limavady at bay with the likes of Robbie Ingham, Paul Johnston and Sergio Oliva putting in some telling tackles. Unfortunately, as half-time approached Limavady notched up a couple more tries, firstly when the No 8 scored when he picked up from the base of a 5 metre scrum and then when the winger finished off the last move of the half. The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with Limavady showing why they are favourites to win the league. Things became even more difficult when a Dee man was shown a yellow card and Limavady did not waste the numerical advantage as they ran in another try. However, when the Dee managed to gain possession there were some encouraging phases of play, including a couple of impressive carries by Dylan Robinson, who certainly did not look out of place on his debut. The relentless pressure from Limavady eventually broke down the Dee’s defence and they scored two further tries before the referee blew for the end of the game making the final score 52-5 for the home team. A difficult day at the office for the Dee but the spirit of the team could not be questioned as everyone stuck to their task throughout the game. Man of the match this week goes to Paul Johnston who tackled tirelessly all day and looked sharp when he had the ball in attack. The Dee now have a week off to recuperate before they take on Coleraine at Donaldson Park on 9th October at 2.30pm.