A strong start by the Dee put CIYMS on back foot early in the first half with tight head Chris Good setting a tone for his forwards with powerful direct running into the bullish CI pack. In the third minute a neat chip into the clubhouse corner by Billy Allen kept the pressure on which paid off when the home side recycled ball deep in the CI 22 and out-half Paul McKenzie (pictured)exploited a gap in the defence to tumble over for opening points with Mark Cooper adding the extras.
Donaghadee continued this early dominance for the first quarter of the game & when eventually exposed the redoubtable Billy Allen was on hand with two try saving tackles in this initial period
On 22mins CI broke from the centre of the pitch and after a transfer of ball through a number of support runners they scored their first try of the day. The conversion was missed but on 26th minute the Belmont men edged ahead for first time with a well taken penalty. The Dee hit back, however, just before half-time when, after sustained pressure, Stephen Adams emerged from the breakdown with ball in hand and intelligently fed the formed line. A neat transfer between McKenzie and Gareth Gordon saw the latter pounce over the line. The kicked was missed leaving the half-time score 12-8 to Donaghadee.

CIYMS started the second period with great purpose and scored in the 45th minute. After a period of pressure on the Dee’s line it was a misplaced pass that eventually wrong footed the home defence and the energetic CI scrum half Michael Wilson crossed the line unchallenged from close range to leave the visitors with a 15-12 lead. Whereas Donaghadee had been very much on the back foot in the second-half exchanges with the strong and purposeful CIYMS outfit this was, however, was to be the last score of the game from the Belfast side as the pendulum now swung very much towards the Donaldson Park side whose determination and desire to capture their first league win of the campaign was palpable to those watching on the sidelines. Suffice to say the Dee now took control of the game with Richard Martindale (in his first game of the season) and Conor Fulton (returning after an extended period of unavailability) to the fore and went on to score two tries through Chris Hamilton and McKenzie in the 51st and 62nd minutes respectfully. The determined CI side fought back but an extremely committed defensive effort kept them out before Cooper put the game beyond doubt for Donaghadee with a penalty goal taking the score to 27-15. With CIYMS continuing to play catch-up the icing on the cake for the Dee was a late converted try from skipper Alastair Lockhart leaving the mean in red and green victors by a 34-15 margin and, in so doing, hoping to kick-start their season with this bonus point win against old rivals in what was a fantastic game of Qualifying One rugby.