Randalstown were the visitors to Donaghadee on Saturday to play a Kukri Championship League game. The local derby the previous week had taken its toll as Jack Chesney, Paul Hamilton and Robbie Ingham were all added to the ever-increasing injury list. Davy Skipp came into the front row and Padric Aherne started his home debut on the flank. The backline saw Morgan Paulin slotting in at 10, with Matt Leebody in the centre, Danny McBride on the wing and Ben Beattie dropping back to fullback. Phil Collins and Johnny Gamble started on the bench. The pitch was slightly moist underfoot after the overnight rain but conditions remained fair throughout the match with a moderate breeze blowing down the pitch. The Dee kicked off against the breeze in the first half and neither team dominated either possession or territory in the early stages. After eight minutes the Dee were penalised at the scrum and the Randalstown kicker slotted home the kick to give the visitors a 3-0 lead. Dee then enjoyed several phases of play including strong runs from the forwards with Robbie Grant and Chris Hamilton to the fore. However, half way through the half a slack bit of defending from the Dee allowed Randalstown to score in the corner to increase the lead to 8-0. For the remainder of the half most of the play was in the middle of the park, the Dee not able to break down a resolute Randalstown defence when they had possession and on the other hand showing they could also defend well when the opposition were threatening their line. As the half came to a close the referee yellow carded the Dee prop after a run of penalties, the last of which was converted to leave the half-time score 11-0.

The Dee supporters were hoping that this lead was not insurmountable as the Dee now had the elements in their favour in the second half. The Dee immediately set up camp in the opposition half and started to put good phases of play together. After 50 minutes, Robbie Grant, who had been the best player on the pitch up until then, suffered a nasty facial injury as a result of a high tackle. The referee decided that it was only a yellow card offence and sent the guilty party to the bin. The Dee continued to pummel away at the line with Sam Ingham, Ray Dobson and Callum Montgomery leading the charge. Half way through the half Callum Montgomery was held up over the line but suffered a bad shoulder injury in the process and also had to leave the field. With ten minutes to go Randalstown made their first visit of the half to the Dee 22 and came away with a score as their flanker touched down under the posts to increase the lead to 18-0. Just when the Dee thought their day could not get any worse their captain, Ali Lockhart, injured his ankle during a tackle and could not continue. This reduced the Dee to 14 men and in the final couple of minutes Randalstown managed to score another converted try to take the final score to 25-0.

This was a frustrating game for the Dee as the overall performance was a further improvement from the previous couple of weeks and had a couple of decisions gone Dee’s way the result could have been very different. The disappointment was obviously compounded by three players having to go to hospital for treatment after the game, hopefully they all will make speedy recoveries. Al three players were contenders for the man of the match award which this week goes to the evergreen Chris Hamilton. The Dee travel to Coleraine next week for another League fixture and the following week they take on Monaghan at Donaldson Park in the Town’s Cup.