Match report by Geoff Ingham

Donaghadee entertained Lisburn at Donaldson Park on Saturday in a Kukri Championship League game. Prior to the match both clubs’ mini-rugby sections competed against each other and it was great to see both pitches full of young players enjoying the sport in the bright winter sunshine. The Dee welcomed back Will Hopes into the second row with Callum Montgomery moving to the back row and in the backs Paul Johnston returned from injury to play in the centre with Ben Beattie occupying the left wing position. Rory Woods started on the bench for his first outing for the 1st XV. Lisburn kicked off and for the first few minutes the Dee dominated both possession and territory with Ray Dobson leading the charges with several strong runs into the heart of the Lisburn defence, However, it was the visitors who were the first to score when they took advantage of a Dee knock -on. The ball was passed to the winger, who stepped inside the Dee cover and sprinted to touch down in the corner. Dee continued to see most of the ball and several chances were squandered before they eventually levelled the scores after 17 minutes when, after Paul Hamilton had made good ground, Mark Cooper fed Dobson who sold a delightful dummy before crossing for the try. The second quarter of the match belonged to Lisburn as the Dee seemed to drop their level of intensity. Lisburn were rewarded for their efforts when the Dee were penalised just outside their 22 and the Lisburn kicker calmly slotted over the kick to make it 8-5. Just before half-time Lisburn increased their lead to 11-5 with another successful penalty kick.

As the second half began it was obvious to the watching supporters that the half time team talk from the Dee coach was working as the Dee took full control of the game. In the 46th minute they reduced the deficit to a single point when Callum Montgomery crashed over after several phases of play. Five minutes later Dee took the lead for the first time when Dobson forced his way over for his second try of the day. The next try, and probably the best try of the day, earned Dee a valuable bonus point. From a line out at the 5 metre line, the ball was moved out to Dobson who slipped the ball to Robbie Grant. The young flanker showed both his speed and his strength as he brushed off two defenders and made it all the way to the line. Cooper was successful with the conversion to take the score to 22-11 in the Dee’s favour. After a succession of infringements by Lisburn at the rucks the referee’s patience ran out and he sent a Lisburn forward to the sin bin. Dee took full advantage of this numerical advantage and soon stretched their lead. After several phases by the forwards inside the Lisburn 22 scrum half Ali Lockhart decided to utilise his backline and Alexander found Woods with an excellent long pass, giving the young debutant an easy run to the corner. Cooper was unlucky with the difficult conversion as he watched the ball bounce off the upright, to leave the score 27-11 to the Dee. The final ten minutes were mostly played out in the middle of the park as legs began to weaken in the moist ground underfoot. The referee got good use out of his yellow card as one player from each side were sin binned for indiscretions and Dee then got a team yellow for consistent offending at ruck time. The referee then blew for full time signalling a five point haul for the Dee which keeps them in fourth position in the league.

Contenders for man-of-the-match this week included Robbie Grant and Callum Montgomery in the forwards and centres Alexander and Johnston in the backs. However, the stand out player was undoubtedly Ray Dobson who’s ball carrying posed problems for Lisburn throughout the game and was rewarded with a brace of tries.

The Dee travel to take on Armagh 2s next Saturday in the first round of the Town’s Cup.