Donaghadee travelled to Glynn on Saturday to play Larne in their penultimate match in the Kukri Championship 2 League. The Dee really needed a win to lift them clear of the relegation play-off position that they were currently in. The only changes this week were in the backline with captain Ali Lockhart and Pete Callaghan joining the ever-growing injury list. Curtis Ewing started on the left wing and Morgan Paulin played at full-back with James Small and Johnny Moore occupying the bench. A shower just prior to kick-off had made the surface slightly moist but with no wind whatsoever conditions were ideal throughout the game. Larne kicked off and within a couple of minutes took the lead. The Dee were penalised at a ruck and the Larne kicker slotted over the kick to give them a 3-0 lead. For the next half hour the game swung back and forth with both sides guilty of unforced errors in attack but showing grit and determination in defence. After 32 minutes, after several good phases of play from the Dee the Larne out-half intercepted a pass at the half-way line and ran untouched to score under the posts. The successful conversion pushed Larne into a 10-0 lead. At this point Dee upped their game and started to make some progress into the Larne half. A neat chip by Cooper took play deep into Larne’s 22. Dee managed to win the oppositions line out and a strong drive by Boyd was illegally stopped 5 metres out. Ahern decided to take the quick tap and forced his way over to score in the corner. The difficult conversion was missed to leave the half-time score 10-5 to Larne.

Larne started the second half strongly and it was only a good defensive effort from the Dee that kept them from increasing their lead. Then it was Dee’s turn to apply some pressure and a good run by Ewing saw them advance into the opposition’s 22. After several phases Ahern picked up and drove over under the posts for what looked a certain try but, unfortunately, the referee judged that the ball had been lost forward. As the game entered the final quarter Larne found themselves in the Dee’s 22 and after a succession of infringements the referee lost his patience and sent a Dee forward to the bin. Larne capitalised on the numerical advantage and soon mauled their way over the line to score. The try was converted to leave the score at 17-5 to Larne. With five minutes to go the referee produced his yellow card again when he sinbinned a Larne player for foul play and a Dee player for retaliation. Dee pressed hard in the final minutes of the game and another strong run by Ahern took play into the Larne half. Larne were penalised at the ruck and Cooper kicked deep into the 22. Boyd won the line out and after pick and goes by Grant and Barnes the ball was moved wide and a long pass found Ewing on the wing who forced his way over to score in the corner. Cooper was successful with the difficult conversion and then the ref blew for full time with the score at 17-12 to Larne.

Another disappointing result for the Dee with a losing bonus point not enough to lift them out of trouble at the wrong end of the league table. One positive note was that eight of the match day squad were under 20s which does auger well for the future. Contenders for man of the match this week included the ever-green Chris Hamilton, Ali Barnes and the teenager Curtis Ewing in only his second start, but the award goes to Padric Ahern who was prominent all game in both defence and attack.

Next week the Dee travel to Randalstown in their final league game of the season, K.O. 2.30 pm.