Match report by Geoff Ingham

Donaghadee welcomed Academy to Donaldson Park on Saturday for a Kukri Championship 2 League game. As what seems like normal now there were several changes to the Donaghadee line up from their previous outing. Ali Barnes, Adam Alexander and the Ingham brothers were all unavailable and Mark Cooper, Ben Beattie and Jody Newell are currently on the injured list. Returning from injury were Morgan Paulin at out-half, Chris McGivern on the wing and Matthew Mingout in the centre who was joined there by Matt Leebody, making his 1st XV debut for the Club. The pitch was in excellent condition, albeit slightly moist from the early morning downpour, and thankfully it remained dry throughout the match. Academy kicked off and after only a couple of minutes registered their first points when they successfully converted a penalty after Dee infringed at a ruck. The powerful boots of the Academy out-half and fullback kept the Dee pinned in their own half and in the tenth minute they forced their way over from a 5 metre scrum. Another long-range penalty soon after increased the Academy lead to 11 points. The Dee had a couple of chances in the next few phases of play including several lineouts in the Academy 22 and a good break from Leebody who was stopped just short of the line. Jack Chesney had to leave the field at this stage and was replaced by the evergreen Davy Skipp. The second quarter of the game turned out to be a defensive disaster for the Dee as the strong running Academy backline ran amok, scoring four tries before the break, the best of which included a sublime cross field kick which was fielded by the winger to score in the corner. All four tries were successfully converted to leave the half time score 39-0 to Academy.

Unfortunately for the Dee the second half began in the same fashion with Academy scoring twice within the first 10 minutes, both of which were converted. To their credit the Dee then had their best period of the game and for the next 20 minutes enjoyed some possession and territory. They finally managed to get on the scoreboard when captain Ally Lockhart (pictured) took a quick penalty and sprinted clear of the defence to score in the corner. In the final 10 minutes Academy came back at the Dee and managed to score two more tries to leave the final score 65-5 in favour of the visitors.

Although this was a good Academy side with an impressive backline the Dee managed to make them look even better due to a sub-par performance on the day. They will have plenty to work on at training to ensure their usually dependable defence is ready for next week’s challenge at near neighbours Ards.