Saturday proved another difficult day for Donaghadee in the North West in their latest Qualifying One game – this time against Coleraine . Injury had deprived the Dee of Chris Good and Rory Garnham from last week’s side defeated in Ballymoney in the Junior Cup along with the unavailable Richard Martindale and Paul Blewitt. Allied to this Nigel Barker remained on the injured list so the Dee lined out with some unfamiliar personnel and positional changes.

Coleraine dominated the first period of play with their strong forward unit expressing their power in a series of surges towards the Dee line from virtually every facet of play. The Dee men held firm until the 8th minute when Coleraine’s influential No. 8 Kenny Calladine drove over from second phase play to score in the top left hand corner and scrum half Bokkie Carstens added the extras. Donaghadee grew into the game a little at this point and pressured the opposition but remained hamstrung principally by the Coleraine scrum which turned out to be the dominating factor in the game and about which more later. After more first phase pressure from Coleraine Dee flanker David Murray was sin binned for allegedly killing ball killing ball in the ensuing ruck. Three minutes later Coleraine struck again with the lively Carstens nipping under the posts before converting his own try in the 28 the minute. After some enterprising play from the Dee backline in injury time in the first half Coleraine were penalised and No. 10 Mark Cooper got the Dee on the board with a well converted penalty goal – half time Coleraine 14 Dee 3.

Play in the second half continued in much the same pattern as the first with the Dee looking dangerous when ball was secured but unfortunately these opportunities were few and far between due to the continued lack of first phase possession. From the possession they were securing mainly due to the scavenging of the Dee back row two long range penalties were awarded in their favour but were narrowly missed by Cooper.
The turning point in the game came after Paul McKenzie had made a superb break from half way to be pulled down five metres short of the opposition line. Unfortunately the Dee were turned over at the ensuing scrum and Coleraine cleared their lines. Shortly after this Cooper had to leave the field after a late tackle left the energetic stand off with an injured shoulder. This further disrupted the Dee shape with the hard working Murray having to leave the pack to fill in in the centre for McKenzie who moved inside to cover for the departed Cooper. On 66 minutes Coleraine drove their way up the field again and despite some heroic defence Andrew Neely broke through a gap in a maul to score from close in with Carstens again converting.
At this point the Dee attacked manfully to once again threaten the Coleraine wide defence which although appearing brittle and susceptible to the Dee’s thrusting threequarters throughout the game remained steadfast and eventually paly moved back to Dee territory. After a succession of scrums and mauls close to the Dee line Bernard Mullan finally broke through to score Coleraine’s bonus point try in the 82nd minute which was converted by Carstens to leave the final score 28-3 to the North West side.
Not a memorable day for the Dee then but some sterling efforts from some of the youngsters in the side and special mention for the first-class performance of Chris Hamilton. The Dee’s Ulster Juniors No. 7 stood out in a creaking pack taking the game to the opposition, dealing manfully with poor ball at the back of the scrums where he was packing down at No. 8 for Dee put ins and linking skilfully with the threequarters in attack.

Finally a small mention again in relation to the scrums. Coleraine thoroughly deserved their victory but this was due in no small measure to their domination of this key area where their tight head was able to “bore in” all afternoon, assisted by an upward drive from the hooker and loosehead, and, in so doing , effectively disabled the left hand side of the Dee scrum. With the change in the scrummaging laws this season back to something like what we remember as the “old laws” enterprising sides can once more profit from the subtler nuances of the scrummaging art. On the one hand sides – like the Dee on this occasion – have to once again learn how to counteract this ploy where it goes unpunished but also thought needs to be given as to how the people controlling the game can be educated in the “darker arts” of front row play which is no longer just about the “collision” but is open once again to a variety of creative ploys with which, quite understandably, they are not familiar. Not sour grapes, just a personal observation ….and full marks to Coleraine for exploiting it.