Donaghadee made the long trip to the North West to play Ballymoney in the reverse fixture to the game at Donaldson Park late last year when the Dee men emerged narrow victors on the end of a 6-3 score line. Once again there were enforced changes to the side with Matthew Stockton injured and Ryan Irvine unavailable. On the plus side Paul Johnston was making his first appearance for the Dee senior side. Surprisingly the Ballymoney 1st XV pitch was in an excellent condition given the horrendously wet weather over the past few weeks and the Dee support looked forward to a hard-fought encounter albeit with no little trepidation as Kilraughts Road has not been a happy hunting ground for the Co. Down men over the years.

Although the Dee started strongly the referee penalised them on their own ten metre line and home outhalf James Campbell stepped up but his place kick went awry and the Dee returned to the fray and once again pressurised in Ballymoney territory. After twelve minutes played sound possession led to a series of mauls before flanker Chris Hamilton broke away to feed first Gareth Deering who in turn made a few telling metres before feeding Chris Good who was stopped short five metres from the line. At the ensuing ruck scrum-half Chris Scott weighed up his options to go wide but spotted a narrow gap in the home defence and powered through to open the scoring with Andy McGrugan adding the extras. Donaghadee continued to look the side most likely to add to the scoreboard but Toon centre Thomas Knight gathered lose ball just outside his own twenty two and opened the Dee defence to take him to fifteen metres out before passing on to his supporting pack who, after a series of concerted drives, mauled their way over the try line just to the left of the posts to tie up the score line at 7-7 with Campbell converting. The match now entered a phase of tit for tat attack and, although Jack Cooke, Paul Johnston, Mark Cooper and John Quigg all threatened, the home defence remained firm as did that of Donaghadee’s in the face of Ballymoney’s mauling game with skipper Gareth Gordon, Max Montgomery and Good particularly prominent in the counter ruck and maul. In a game which was now being dominated by the penalty count Ballymoney No. 8 John McFetridge was sin-bnned for a high tackle and although McGrugan narrowly missed the resulting penalty from the home ten metre line the Toon were again penalised a for not rolling way a few seconds later and the Dee wing made no mistake at his second bite to take the Dee into a narrow 10-7 lead with thirty one minutes played. A lack of concentration in the Dee blindside defence led to the powerful Toon right-wing John Gilkinson making forty metres just to be stopped short of the visiting line before a knock on from his supporting pack relieved the danger. Unfortunately however – during the melee - McGrugan had sustained a nasty injury and would take no further part in the afternoon’s proceedings. The Dee made their way down the field and pressed once again and a stirring run from Cooke was stopped just short . There was no further change the scoreboard and the sides turned around with the Dee still holding on to their 10-7 lead.

From the kick-off Dee lock Sam Ingham fielded, spun out of an attempted tackle and then sprinted thirty metres into home territory before being brought down. This gave the Dee just the impetus they required and the spent the next five minutes pressing before eventually being awarded a penalty thirty metres out and fifteen metres from the touchline. With McGrugan now off the pitch Paul Blewitt stepped up and calmly stroked the ball between the posts to extend the Dee lead to 13-7. Sadly though, the Dee infringed from the restart and Campbell clawed back the differential with a well taken kick of his own. The Dee bench had been used to good effect during the match with both Owen Roberts and Conn Crawford making telling contributions as they rolled on and off for a series of injuries, not only to McGrugan, but successively to Ingham, Matthew Johnston (who was hampered by a shoulder injury from early in the game), Cooper and Hamilton. Having been re-invigorated be their penalty success Ballymoney now entered their best phase of the game and strong driving and mauling from the Toon pack, primarily through James Blair, Aidy Graham and McFetridge had the Dee in some difficulty. When the home side spun the ball wide from successive incursions the Dee defence remained robust with Paul Johnston, Cooper and Bill Allen (pictured) particularly prominent. Having now decided Route One was the way to go the Toon won successive penalties close to the Dee line and, having opted to utilise their much heavier pack in the set scrum, managed to drive over the Dee line on the third re-set of the final penalty. Campbell was unsuccessful with his conversion attempt but the home side were now in lead by two points with twenty minutes to go. Although Donaghadee made strenuous efforts to get out of their own territory Ballymoney now had the bit between their teeth and continued to threaten with their strong mauling and set-scrum. The Dee were further hampered when Conn Crawford was yellow carded when adjudged to have come in from the side – as somewhat harsh decision but maybe more to do with the succession of penalties the Dee were leaking rather than the perceived offence itself. Eventually however the Dee won a scrum on their own five metre line and, in what was to prove to be the pivotal moment of the game, Montgomery picked up and drove out of defence spinning out of one tackle, sidestepping the next and then outpacing the Toon defence to take him to halfway before Scott and Blewitt released their backs and then successively Paul Johnston, Allen and Cooper sliced through the opposition defence before the attack was stymied on the opposition twenty two. Little reward the for the best passage of play of the afternoon but the pressure had been relieved although the Dee still needed to score to come away with more than a losing bonus point. The Toon kicked ball to the halfway where it was secured by Cooke who set up the ruck and the ball was once more spun to Blewitt who, in attempting to release his centres, was late tackled by Graham who became Ballymoney’s second yellow card of the game. From the ensuing penalty Blewitt kicked deep to the touchline, ball was secured from the line out and play moved progressively towards the home line with the Dee utilising all the firepower at their disposal via a combination of incisive forward and back play. Eventually the tiring Ballymoney defence was sucked in once too often and Blewitt slickly moved the ball to Hamilton on the narrow side who skipped over the line for an unconverted try with seventy nine minutes played. The Dee returned to attack from the restart but were penalised and Ballymoney moved worryingly into opposition territory. From the ensuing lineout the home side won another penalty and kicked closer to the Dee line. Again Ballymoney secured lineout ball and moved towards the Dee line. The Dee defended the maul and, after it had gone to ground, got hands legally on the ball and the referee awarded a hard-won and very welcome penalty. With time up Blewit chipped his kick into touch and the referee blew for no side with the Dee victorious by an 18-15 margin.

Once again the task of selecting Man of the Match is not an easy one with rousing performances from all seventeen players from which Cooke, Montgomery, Hamilton, Cooper, Quigg and Blewitt were particularly prominent. On this occasion however the accolade goes to Paul Johnston whose attacking and defensive work was impeccable and who proved to be a thorn in the side of the opposition all afternoon. Coaches John West and John Blewitt will happy with the resolve shown by the side in coming away with a victory from Ballymoney for the first time in some fourteen years and, with the Dee now have back to back wins in the league, will look forward to next Saturday at Donaldson Park when they will hope to overturn the defeat suffered against league leaders Carrick earlier in the season.