Match Reporter - Mark "Nick Cage" Nicholl
72 – 15

Lying in my bed on Saturday morning, contemplating getting up or turning over for a snooze, my mind drifted to the game this afternoon. What would be the perfect conditions for a game of rugby? I swiftly concluded that the opposite conditions experienced in the game away to Holywood a couple of weeks ago would do nicely. Curiosity got the better of me and there was nothing else for it, jump out of bed and fling open the curtains. I had to squint, yes, there was sunshine, blue skies and very little wind! Wow, game on!
13:30 came along quickly, time is relative after all and goes at double the speed at weekends. The Dee squad had boots on and were chomping at the bit to get the warm up underway. The lads got up a sweat, focused on the game plan as set by the gaffer, Tom ‘Eastwood’ Northey, and went through the personal ritual of donning the Donaghadee shirt. At 14:30 the Dee squad took to the hallowed Donaldson Park turf to welcome Holywood 2nd XV, game on!
Captain Chris ‘Damon’ Scott opted to receive the ball with the Dee playing up the hill towards Ards, the ball was received by the forwards and play was taken into the Holywood 22 with a mix of deft handling, hard running and quick recycling. Holywood gave away a penalty at the breakdown with Captain ’Damon’ Scott showing intent and respect to the opposition opted for the kick. Andy ‘Snipes’ McGrugan stepped up and slotted the penalty to take a 3-0 lead. The Dee looked to build on their momentum of previous good starts right from the whistle but uncharacteristic confusion from the kick off saw the ball return to the Holywood side. A couple of phases later saw the determined Holywood centre burst through soft Dee tackling to score the opening try of the match and give a confident Dee side something to think about. It soon proved mightily apparent that the Dee were not getting to grips with their discipline and a number of soft penalties raised the hackles of the referee and a team warning was issued. Team manager ‘Eastwood’ Northey read the riot act to the stuttering XV and challenged them to improve. The front row of Rhys ‘Diesel’ Brown, Morgan ‘Willis’ McCartney and Mark ‘Johnson’ Poole grasped the mantle and trucked the ball up the field after receiving the kick off. Effective rucking from Tommy ‘Van Damme’ Scullion enabled Mathew ‘Chan’ Mingout at scrum half distribute the ball with speed and accuracy to the right wing where Davy ‘Bronson’ Scott turned on the afterburners and crossed for the Dee’s opening try. The conversion was bagged by ‘Snipes’ McGrugan. There then followed a period of Donaghadee possession and effective carrying from number 8, Stevie’ Stallone’ Cullen, resulting in a trademark jinking run from the openside, Jonny ‘Willis’ Gamble, claiming the second Dee try of the game. ‘Snipes’ McGrugan didn’t miss the addition points. The Dee men seemed all at sea with the second quarter being a battle with discipline as well as a resurgent Holywood side. A penalty was given within the Dee danger zone and the chance was hoovered up like a turbo charged Dyson by Holywood. A few moments later the familiar sound of the referee’s whistle could be heard resulting in a yellow card being shown to ‘Stallone’ Cullen. With Holywood still well in the game it took a team defensive effort to apply pressure to regain possession of the ball. Strong pressing from the back line led by inside centre, Chris ‘Damon’ Scott, outhalf Matt ‘Cruise’ Quinn and outside centre Robbie ‘Bronson’ Ingham had the Dee men starting to play the brand of rugby that they are becoming known for. Quick line out ball provided by Jack ‘Lundgren’ Matthews and effective clearing out by the blindside Mark ‘Cage’ Nicholl gave the impetus to go through multiple phases with Matt ‘Chan’ Mingout bursting through the Holywood defence for the Dee to stretch the score board. However, Holywood were not letting the Dee take full control of the game and gallant play from their pack and soft hands had the centre crash through on a sweet line to cross for Holywood’s second try of the half, plus the conversion.
At half time the Dee men, to an individual, were not happy with the performance and execution of the game plan that they had put forward in a half of ill discipline and soft shoulders. It was impressed upon the men to stand proud in front of the home support, take control of the game and play to our strengths. The packs elder statesmen were handed back their zimmer frames with Jack ‘Seagal’ Chesney and James ‘Norris’ Cheshire taking to the field.
From the off the Dee attacked the favoured town end of Donaldson with renewed vigour. The right wing of Owen ‘Statham’ Baillie made storming meters down the wide channels. The pack went through the gears into the limiter and blasted the Holywood defenders of the ruck. The first try of the second half came from a bruising run by Chris ‘Damon’ Scott. The half back pairing of the two Matts ‘Chan & Cruise’ bristled with confidence and this paid dividends with ‘Cruise’ Quinn building the score further with a well worked try involving a set move with ‘Bronson’ Ingham. As the penalty count virtually dried up and the fast paced, hard running wide line game emerged that this team is known for the gates began to open. Captain ‘Damon’ Scott bagged his second try. There was then a five-minute powerplay with James ‘Norris’ Cheshire charging down the wing like a runaway train and claiming the bosh of the day (possibly season?) when a brave Holywood defender came in for the tackle and was summarily bullied out of the way to score. After the restart it was a similar picture with Cheshire taking another score. The power running of the Dee pack was bravely met by the Holywood defence but ultimately the force was irresistible and Jack ‘Seagal’ Chesney barged across the line. The last score of the game came from ‘Snipes’ McGrugan who had a superb day with the kicking tee missing only two conversions from eleven tries.

Although looking at the score line it would seem that there was a total rout of this Holywood side it has to be said that, with a travelling squad of fourteen players they have done themselves proud.
Donaghadee 2nd XV move on to a crunch mid week encounter with Belfast Harlequins 4s at Deramore Park, kick-off 19:30. There is plenty to play for and a large turnout at Training on Tuesday is expected. There is plenty to work on!
Jonny Gamble takes the plaudits of his peers and receives the Man of the Match award!