Donaghadee made the long trip to play newly promoted Virginia on perfect afternoon for rugby in South Cavan. The side were once again denied the services of key personnel due to unavailability and injury missing the Ingham brothers, Jack Chesney, Adam Alexander and Jonny Gamble amongst others. Andy McCracken came into the second row, Bryn McCartney into the back row, with 2nd XV vice-captain Owen Bailie on the wing, Sam Wilkinson making his competitive debut on the 1st XV on the other wing with James Small joining Dylan Robinson on the bench.

The home side started strongly and took the lead with a well struck penalty. At this point Virginia were putting Donaghadee under significant pressure and ten minutes later an intricate backs movement led to an unconverted try in the corner to extend their lead to 8-0 at the end of the first quarter. On the half hour Donaghadee finally slipped into something approaching top gear and successive drives by Ray Dobson & Ally Barnes brought the side close to the opposition line before a number of penalties were awarded, The Dee went to touch and drove off the successful lineout before Paul Hamilton spun off the ensuing maul to force his way over wide out on the left-hand side for an unconverted try. Five minutes later however the mazy running of the Virginia No. 10 and some exceptionally weak tackling from Donaghadee allowed the former to touch down close to the posts. With the extras added the Cavan men were now 15-5 ahead with half time beckoning. The Dee regained possession from the kick-off and Calum Montgomery broke before feeding Dobson whose pass to his supporting attackers was dropped with the Virginia line at the Dee’s mercy.

No further points were added by either side prior to the break and two minutes into the second half No. 8 Chris Hamilton made a break from outside the opposition twenty-two, selling two dummies before forcing his way over the line through a combination of pace and power for the try of the day. Danny McBride converted, and the away side were now only three points behind at 15-12. Sadly, a lapse in concentration five minutes later allowed Virginia significant territory and eventually their No. 9 nipped inside from a ruck close to the Dee line to score an unconverted try. At this point Dylan Robinson was brought off the bench and his youthful power and application significantly added to the Dee’s armory. Try as they might though Donaghadee’s promising attacks broke down through a combination of poor execution and excellent defence from Virginia until finally, after a number of characteristic determined breaks from skipper Ally Lockhart and the barnstorming Robbie Grant finally led to Barnes forcing his way over for an unconverted try with two minutes of ordinary time left on the clock. The Dee were now 20-17 behind and hopes of an unlikely victory were harboured by the Dee sideline support. Unfortunately though, a penalty was conceded on the Dee ten metre line and although the ensuing kick was missed the full-time whistle was blown after forty minutes play in the second period with no extra time for the numerous water and injury breaks allowed.

A losing bonus point was scant reward from a fixture Donaghadee would have hoped to have gained a lot more from but congratulations to Virginia on what was a very stout performance from the home side. Suffice to say they will prove a handful for a number of teams this season on their home patch. From the Dee’s perspective however, even allowing for missing personnel, this was a poor performance and coaches Blewitt, Dobson & West will be working hard on the training paddock for significant improvement before the next league game against Academy at Donaldson Park on the 1st of October.

A number of players put their hands up for Man of the Match this week including Callum Montgomery, Chris Hamilton & Robbie Grant. They were just pipped however by Ally Lockhart who led from the front in adversity.