On one of the windiest afternoons for playing rugby in recent times Donaghadee welcomed Portadown to Donaldson Park in what was seen as a key fixture for the home side in their quest to retain their Qualifying One status.

With the gale blowing directly across the pitch towards the Clubhouse the Dee started securely playing “up the hill” and Paul Blewitt used his wealth of experience to kick expertly into opposition territory in the adverse conditions. Donaghadee secured lineout ball close to the Portadown line & carried on through the forward phases before skipper Alastair Lockhart burrowed his way through the defence to open the scoring with an unconverted try. Immediately afterwards the Dee returned to the attack and mauled their way into opposition territory and tight-head Chris Good gained the touchdown. The Dee tails were up and Lockhart and Blewitt continued to dominate the management of the game and with half an hour gone the latter released centre Adam Alexander who broke through two despairing tackles in centre field before offloading to his supporting midfield partner Paul McKenzie who scored under the posts.

Halftime came and went with the Donaghadee faithful on the sideline confident that a possible bonus point was on offer but mindful that Portadown would now press the home defence in an effort to pull back the score and eliminate thoughts of what had been, for them, a disappointing first period. The home support fears were allayed however when a Portadown up-and-under in the swirling tempest was fielded by right-wing Ryan Irvine just outside his own twenty-two. The speedy winger then proceeded to weave through the opposition pack before breaking a couple of backline defence tackles and outpacing the remaining defenders to score the most spectacular try of the day and secure the bonus point.

At 22-0 the Dee would have been forgiven for sitting back and managing the game to a conclusion but Lockhart had other ideas. With the barrelling No. 9 enjoying a magnificent return to top form he terrorised the Portadown defence with his aggressive style of play and scored a further two tries to complete his hat trick. The Donaghadee defence remained solid and a double tackle from Max Montgomery and Matthew Stockton drove Portadown back fifteen metres before the ball was turned over and spun out to Alexander who again overpowered defenders before setting full-back Billy Allen away to run around behind the posts and score another memorable try.
The final try of the day came as Portadown tried to play some catch-up rugby but were again turned over in their own twenty-two and lock Richard Martindale brushed aside three opponents to touch down. Blewitt managed four conversions in what were nightmare conditions for any place kicker to operate leaving the final score 48-0 in favour of Donaghadee.

This was undoubtedly the Dee’s finest performance of the season with the side producing an intensity which left their opponents floundering in their wake. Stand out performances from Lockhart, Montgomery and Alexander but all seventeen players contributed to a memorable afternoon – Matthew Kane continuing to develop into an extremely influential prop in both tight & loose, hooker Gareth Gordon returning to his halcyon days with a commanding performance in tight and loose, Good commanding the mauls and rucks alongside Martindale who is now returning to match fitness & providing the grit up front, Stephen Adams moving up from the back row proving his versatility and aggression, Chris Hamilton producing a trademark performance on the ground & in the tackle, Stockton standing out from crowd and enjoying renewing his partnership with Montgomery, Blewitt rolling back the years with a masterful performance in the conditions, Thomas Slane & Irvine remaining resolute in both defence and attack despite the intemperate weather, McKenzie enjoying the freedom at No. 13, Allen (as usual) a thorn in the oppositions flesh and Adam Torrans producing a strong cameo from the bench along with Mark Cooper who deputised admirably at scrum-half for the rested Lockhart in the last twenty.
A superb performance then and the side will now enter the last five league games of the season reinvigorated by the belief that they can stand toe to toe with any side in Qualifying One in their attempt to finish 8th and hence avoid any chance of relegation.