After the stirring home win against Portadown last week the Dee travelled to Ballyclare with more confidence than they might otherwise have done but were mindful of the fact that The Cloughan has not been a happy hunting ground since promotion to Q1 was achieved in 2011. With Max Montgomery, Adam Alexander and Stephen Adams not available this week Kyle Morrow, Andrew Findlater and Jack Cooke stepped into the breach with Rhys Thompson coming onto the bench to allow Mark Cooper to play at No. 10 for the 2nd XV.
With the game starting at a frenetic pace it was the White Hare men who were first on the scoreboard after they turned over ball on the Dee ten metre line and broke blind to allow a score in the right-hand corner – full-back Collie Morrow adding the extras. The Dee immediately struck back after some imaginative play in the Clare half let No. 10 Paul Blewitt spin ball to Paul McKenzie who released left wing Tommy Slane to score in the corner after evading his would be tacklers . With the conversion missed the Dee again pressed the home defence over an extended period near their five metre line leading to a scrum from which No. 8 Jack Cooke picked up to feed Alastair Lockhart who powered over in characteristic manner.

At this point the Dee were in control of the game but once again ball was turned over by the hungry Clare back row & the lead was regained with another touchdown - this time unconverted. As half time approached the Dee pack regain the upper hand and after a succession of scrums, line-outs and ensuing mauls Kyle Morrow wrestled his way over the line for the way side to take a 15-12 lead into half-time.

Although in the lead going into the second-half the Dee support remained nervous given the fact that they had dominated the game in the first period but had allowed Ballyclare to score on the only two occasions they had threatened. After the frenzied scoring pattern of the first-half the game now settled into a war of attrition with both sides spurning the few chances of scoring that occurred. The Dee nerves were calmed, however, when Blewitt converted a penalty after a sustained period of pressure to allow the Dee to extend their lead. All present knew that the next score would probably be decisive in determining the result and it was now the Dee’s recently re-acquired resolve came to the fore and they upped the pace in both attack and defence only to be foiled by the efforts of Ballyclare’s Willie Logan and Gary Weatherup who both have proved to be a perennial thorn in the side of the Dee men over the years. The Dee, however, were not to be denied on this occasion and after stand-out work by flankers Chris Hamilton and Matthew Stockton in both the tackle and on the floor the Dee drove into the opposition twenty-two aided by the driving of tight-head Chris Good before Findlater was released close to the line to out muscle the despairing home defence over and score the bonus point try. Blewitt converted to take the score to 25-12 with six minutes remaining. Ballyclare now came back at the Dee with some purpose and with the away side reduced to fourteen men after a sin binning the White Hare men had the last say scoring close to the posts before converting to allow them the losing bonus point.

Another magnificent performance from the Dee who have been re-invigorated since their victory over Holywood in the last round of the Towns Cup. Once again the entire seventeen contributed to the victory but maybe special mention should be reserved for right-wing Ryan Irvine whose performance was nothing short of exemplary in both defence and attack, loose-head Matthew Kane who continues to improve with every game and Richard Martindale whose influence up-front in the face of adversity never fails to impress. Allied to this the men who stepped in had excellent games and contributed in no small manner to the victory. The Dee now look forward to a home Towns Cup Quarter Final against old foes Carrick next Saturday before returning to league action the following week at Donaldson Park against Bangor when, once again, a win will be key to the Dee’s objective of finishing eighth in the league table and, in so doing, avoiding the spectre of possible relegation.