The Dee 1st XV travelled to Clogher Valley more in hope than expectation on Saturday when injury robbed them of not only of talismanic skipper Alastair Lockhart but also Mark Cooper and Matthew Stockton. Allied to this the unavailability of no less than another nine players who were unable to travel to Fivemiletown left the side with an exceptionally unfamiliar look to it. Adam Torrans came into the front row for his first game of the season, 2nd XV skipper Stephen Cullen moved up into the second row, David Keys played No. 6, Tommy Slane moved in from the wing to centre and hooker Conor Fulton & flanker Matthew Johnson filled the two wing positions with Andy Monson dusting off the boots to come in at No. 9 and Blair Savage made his debut from the bench. Not ideal preparation then for the first game of the league season away to the last year’s Q1 champions and Towns Cup winners . The unfamiliarity with each other proved a serious issue in the first half for the young Dee side and their much more experienced counterparts had the bonus point in the bag by half time by which stage they led by 27-3 with their hugely influential No. 8 Ryan Wilson scoring a couple of their tries.

The travelling support feared for the outcome of the second half but were cheered by a magnificent performance in adversity from the Dee men. Led by openside Chris Hamilton and No. 8 Stephen Adams the Dee put in a hugely dogged performance threatening the Valley line on more than one occasion. The experience of Chris Good and Gareth Gordon in the pack and Andy Monson, Bill Allen & Paul McKenzie in the backs came to the fore and the game ended with debutant Matthew Johnson scoring in the corner after a concerted effort from the pack. Nigel Barker converted the extras from the touchline to add to the penalty which had opened the scoring in the first half to leave the final score 41-10 in favour of the league champions. Sterling work in the second half then from the Dee men but worthy of particular mention is not only Andy Monson who had not pulled on a 1st XV jersey in well over three years but put in an outstanding offensive, and particularly defensive, effort at scrum half but also wingers for the day Conor Fulton & Matthew Johnson neither of whom took a backward step in their unfamiliar roles.

A chastening experience then for the 1st XV but one which proves that such is the quality of Qualifying One rugby no side can afford to field unless they are close to full strength. Fantastic effort from the Club in Fivemiletown and back at Donaldson Park where the 2s won 42-0 against Ballymoney III but, sadly, the cold fact is that there were NINETEEN personnel missing from the two sides due to a combination of injury and unavailability. Injury is unavoidable, unavailability is NOT!! Something to think about lads…….