Donaghadee had the unenviable task of travelling to The Cran, Fivemiletown last Saturday as they looked to bounce back from their home defeat to Ballymoney in their last league outing.
Although coaches McKenzie and Stuart Hennessey have been rotating their starting fifteen of late, Saturdays team was certainly closer to their strongest fifteen with the exceptions of prop forward Chris Good who failed a late fitness test with a knee injury, David Murray who started on the bench together with second rows Tony Brown & Michael Blair who were both unavailable.
Donaghadee failed to secure clean ball from the home side’s kick off and within three minutes of the start Clogher Valley got their first points of the day with a sweetly struck penalty.
Both teams were reduced to fourteen men on the 15th minute when the Clogher Valley out-half took exception to what he believed was a late tackle by Donaghdee’s Chris Hamilton.
The home side were particularly strong during this ten minute period notching up two tries – one from deep in their own half after they broke from a period of Donaghadee dominance and the second from close range as their powerful ruck and maul started to fine tune their efforts for what was to be the home side’s most effective tactic for the remainder of the game.
Nigel Barkers’ trusted boot reduced the deficit to ten points on the 32nd minute with a successful penalty.
Although Donaghadee were very clearly out of sorts they began to grow in confidence as the first half drew to a close however in what turned out to be a defining three minutes of play the home side cruelly took advantage of two unforced errors in the Donagahdee backline and inflicted the ultimate punishment by scoring two further first half tries.
Half Time Donaghadee 3 Clogher Valley 23
In recent seasons Donaghadee have been particularly strong defensively however the first time tackling was not at these standards on Saturday and the home sides quick off load game left Donaghadee exposed all too often during this league encounter.
On the 45th minute the Clogher Valley extended their lead with a break away try as Donaghadee continued to mount a challenge on the game.
Donaghadee did get a deserved try for their efforts on the 52nd minute when McKenzie fed the oncoming Mark Cooper who did well to hug the left touchline without stepping over the white line and offload to Barker who still had work to do before touching down for a try that his own performance very much deserved.
Clogher Valley scored their 6th and final score of the day on the 60th minute after a double figure phase of play that patiently punched holes in the Dee defence before touching down from close range.
The late introduction of David Murray offered fresh legs to Donaghadee’s efforts and his tough tackling in the middle of the pitch helped keep the home side at bay in what was a subdued final quarter of the game.
A frustrating day for the Donaghadee team against an impressive Clogher Valley team who certainly avenged a very similar score line inflicted upon them at Donaldson Park in the final home game last season.
Donaghadee enjoy a distraction from league business this Saturday as they host Dundalk in the first round of the prestigious All Ireland Junior Cup.
Donaghadee had two exciting away adventures in this competition last year but will be delighted to bring this competition to Donaldson Park for what promises to be an exciting knock out encounter.
Team: M Cooper, B Allen, R Garnham, N Barker, R Irvine, P McKenzie, A Lockhart © , A Torrans, G Gordon, S Hennessey, M Ellis, J Cooke, S Thompson, C Hamilton, R Martindale. Subs: D Murray, P Collins