Following the last week’s defeat to Monaghan in the Towns Cup the Dee selected the same pack with the exception of Davy Skipp coming in at loose-head meaning James Small started on the bench alongside Bryn Macartney for this Kukri Championship 2 game against league pacesetters Portadown at Donaldson Park. There was much more disruption to the Dee back line however, due to injuries to Morgan Paulin and Matthew Mingout, meaning that Robbie Ingham made a welcome return from injury to the wing with Peter Callaghan moving into midfield to replace Mingout in the centre. Another Academy graduate debuted replacing Paulin at full-back in the form of Adam McGrath who became the 41st player to turn out for the 1st XV in competitive matches this season.

With the autumn sun on their backs Portadown started with purpose and soon had the home side under pressure employing their excellent lineout and accompanying drive to great effect. The Dee defence held firm however with Robbie Grant, Nathan Boyd, Paul Hamilton, Paddy Ahearn & Andy McCracken to the fore in the early forward exchanges. When the Dee did get the opportunity to attack Jack Chesney, Grant, McCracken and Ahearn tested the visitors defence aided by the probing of scrum-half Ben Beattie and game management of No. 10 Mark Cooper. At this stage Callaghan was unlucky not to profit further after he was released by centre partner Matt Leebody - eventually succumbing to Portadown’s scramble defence. Ultimately however Portadown’s domination of possession told when ball was spun wide for their centre to cut back inside and expose some weak Dee defence & score under the posts to take the visitors into 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Portadown continued to have the lions’ share of possession but once again excellent home defence kept them at bay due, in no small part, to the efforts of the home back row in the form of Jonny Gamble, Ahearn & Grant supported by the ever tenacious Beattie at No. 9 who was combining his defensive labours with a pin-point kicking game from the base of ruck & maul. With three minutes of the half remaining and defending just beyond their own twenty-two the home side turned over Portadown ball and Ahearn broke through before chipping beyond the oncoming defence, beating the covering wing to fly hack forward into the opposing twenty-two and then controlling the ball with his feet to knock across the tryline and outreach the visiting full-back to score a truly remarkable try. Cooper added the conversion and the first half ended without further incident with the two sides tied at 7 points each.

By this point Small had replaced the injured Skipp in the front row and soon afterwards Macartney came off the bench to replace Magrath who had also succumbed to injury, Ingham moving to full-back and Gamble going on the wing. Initially the second half adopted the same pattern as the first but as the Dee pack gained in confidence in both the set scrum and general forward exchanges the Dee faithful on the sideline sensed the young Dee side was not the mood to let the game go easily. Unfortunately, after another Portadown lineout drive at the end of the third quarter, a minor defensive lapse opened some space for Portadown to break through via their alert centre pairing and score a well worked try which remained unconverted. In the final quarter both sides threatened to no avail but, as the clock moved into injury time and the home support had settled on a losing bonus point, Donaghadee capitalised on the traction they had been gaining throughout the second period to force Portadown to concede a number of penalties. Cooper punished the visitors’ concessions with accurate line kicking and the Dee had Portadown on the rack following successive lineout drives. With the home side holding advantage from the latest Portadown infringement Cooper kicked cross-field for electric Jonny Moore to touch down in the right-hand corner. Cooper now had a chance to win the game with the most difficult of conversions but sadly his well struck kick cannoned off the inside post to leave the score level at 12-12. Although the game kicked-off again Portadown knocked on in the ensuing maul and the referee whistled for no side.

An exceptional performance then from this very young side who despite being without, amongst others, around eight of their most experienced players showed great grit and determination to salvage a draw against one of the league favourites and indeed were unlucky not to come away with the win. With a succession of tough games on the horizon the coaching staff will hope this is a seminal moment in the side’s progress this season and, as availability after injury improves over coming weeks – all being well, the spirit shown by the young guns against a immensely more experienced side will hold the 1st XV in good stead in those encounters.

Stand out performances again from Cooper, Grant, Ahearn, Beattie, Moore, Hamilton & Chesney ably supported by the ever-improving second row partnership of Boyd and McCracken but Man of the Match this week goes to James Small whose transition from flanker to prop over the last couple of weeks has proved inspirational for the rest of the squad.

Next week the 1st XV welcome Ballymoney to Donaldson Park (2:30pm ko)