Donaghadee welcomed Ballymoney for the key Christmas fixture on a dark and dank afternoon at Donaldson Park. The Dee were hampered by the loss of Richard Martindale and Chris Hamilton through unavailability and injury respectively but were buoyed by the return of Max Montgomery and Adam Alexander who started on the bench. Playing down “the hill” in the first half Donaghadee started well and soon took the lead through a Mark Cooper (pictured) penalty. The Dee had all the territory and possession at this stage but were undone when a careless pass in midfield in the opposition 22 was seized by Ballymoney who fed their speedy left winger who promptly ran almost the length of the field to score a converted try under the posts. Donaghadee struck back almost immediately when sustained phase play and clever inter passing in the backline led to Cooper outpacing the defence to score in the right hand corner. With the extras missed Ballymoney converted a penalty to leave the half-time score 10-8 in their favour but the home faithful were confident that, although the side was only firing intermittently, they had enough in the tank to glean a much needed victory against a hitherto winless Ballymoney.

The Toon, however, had different ideas and urged on by their hefty travelling support pinned the Dee back in their own half and scored a converted try after great continuity from their well drilled pack. This proved to be the pattern for the second half when Donaghadee – try as they might – could not break down the excellent Ballymoney defence. The introduction of Alexander to the fray greatly improved the potency of the Dee offence but, time and again, their efforts were stymied by the hugely motivated Toon men. Approaching the end of normal time Cooper narrowly missed a penalty which would have given the Dee a losing bonus point and, as is often the case in these circumstances, the home sides efforts to score playing catch up rugby was undone when Ballymoney turned over and scored a converted try with the last play of the game.

A disappointing day then in Donaldson Park which now leaves Donaghadee and Ballymoney firmly anchored on five points each at the bottom of Q1. Rugby at this level is mostly about desire and, on the day, Ballymoney clearly wanted it more and thoroughly deserved their victory. A lot of heavy graft then during the incoming Christmas week for the 1st XV squad prior to what is an even more key game now next Saturday against CIYMS at Belmont. As alluded to above things haven’t really fired for the side this season but, with the talent available and coaching expertise in place, all that is required is sustained application throughout the incoming weeks…. hard times means hard work!