After the tremendous performance against CIYMS last week hopes were high that Donaghadee could take at least something from their trip to Barban Hill in the game against Dromore in the lastest round of Qualifying One. The Dee side lined up with the same personnel as last week with the exception of the unavailable Andrew Findlater – Ryan Irvine moving into the centre and Matthew Stockton taking over Irvine’s place on the right wing.

Dromore started strongly and from a lineout just inside the Dee 22 their strong pack mauled over the line for Michael Harshaw to score with scrum-half Lee Steenson adding the extras. The Dee hit back almost immediately after concerted phase play took them to a five metre scrum under the Dromore posts. At this point the Dee eight had their opponents under pressure in the set-piece and, after having been re-set on two occasions, No. 8 Stephen Adams first side-stepped and then barged his way under the posts for a try which Mark Cooper converted to tie up the scores.

The rest of the half was characterised by powerful driving from the Dromore pack, led by their No. 8 Rory Pepper, managed by Steenson whose kicking from hand was key in the blustery conditions. Although the Dee continued to exhibit some clever phase play it was Steenson who got the scoreboard moving again with a penalty. At this point Dee skipper & scrum-half Alastair Lockhart, who been struggling a hip injury sustained in the early exchanges, was sin-binned after an altercation with his opposite number, which led to further Dromore pressure. To their great credit the Dee defended manfully until Lockhart’s return and the sin-binning of a Dromore forward. This was probably the turning point of the game as the Dee were unable to take anything from their numerical advantage whilst Dromore added a further three points through the boot of Steenson.

The teams turned around at 13-7 to Dromore and then suffered a triple whammy when Lockhart was unable to return to proceedings for the second period due to his earlier injury, Chris Good was sin-binned for an alleged infringement leading to the last Steenson penalty and, within three minutes of the re-start, openside Chris Hamilton had to leave the field with a shoulder injury. To lose any one of this triumvirate would have been a blow but to lose one at a key time in the game and a further two for the rest of the match was to prove a hurdle too far for the Dee men. Although the Dee pack led by the ever robust efforts of Richard Martindale (pictured) competed well up front every break of the ball and 50/50 decision seemed to favour the Barban Hill men and they drew further ahead when a concerted drive and some clever interplay amongst the backs led to a try in corner with Steenson again converting.

The Dee threatened on a few occasions but the Dromore defence held firm aided by some mystifying refereeing decisions which fell in the home side’s favour. To be fair both sides suffered from this malaise throughout the game but, to their credit, Dromore dealt much better with this adversarial situation and closed out the game five minutes from the end when, with the Dee playing catch-up rugby from their own line, the ball was turned over and the home hooker crossed for a converted try to leave the final score 27-7.
A win for the home side, on reflection and given the circumstances described above, was probably a fair result but for the Dee to leave without even a losing bonus point was disappointing given the competitive nature of the game. The difference between the two sides was , however, the home sides ability to capitalise on errors and deal with the frequent reduction in manpower, occasioned by the plethora of yellow cards, much better than the Dee.

The Dee now have a break next week before welcoming Ballymoney to Donaldson Park on Saturday 20th December in a game that will undoubtedly prove key to both sides seasons.