Match report by an (as yet) unknown scribe.

Dominant. It’s word that rolls off the tongue in rugby. A goal. An aspiration. A collective aim. Rarely, fleetingly, is it achieved. Saturday was one of those days when it did.

The sun was out and the anticipation of a new season was in the air. Pre-season had gone well. Numbers had been high and the effort even higher. This led to a new focus and new direction for the 2s under their coach, Tom Northey, and a senior group of players who are determined to make this a good season. Some new faces turned out for the Dee, both on the pitch and on the sideline. Warm-ups went well. The line-out was singing and the phase play looked sharp. Confidence was high. The spectre of the loss to Civil Service this time last year was there to be banished.

And banished it was.

This was a performance built on the backs of the big men up front. I doubt that a pack have had such an enjoyable day out as the Dee pack did. The Dee scrum was solid as a rock on our ball and punished the opposition on their scrum. In truth, the Dee’s biggest concern at scrum time was the referee pinging them for driving Service too far. Andy McCracken and Morgan McCartney linked beautifully in attacking lineouts, plucking supremely accurate darts out the sky at the back of the lineout. This just served to give the backs even more front foot ball. The disgusted look on the hooker’s face when one throw went slightly astray was a measure of the standard he performed to on the day. Jack McHugh smashed through the heart and soul of the Service defence with some barnstorming runs, finishing up with a brace of tries. Rucks and opponents were smashed. Turnovers were snaffled. Each man did their best to undermine the spirit of Service. Tries, and a knowing smile, were their reward!

That left it to the backs to do something with the quality ball they were presented with. Andy Monson and Owen Bailie at 9 and 10 gratefully accepted the offering laid out on the silver platter and the backs outside them did not disappoint. Some lovely flowing moves led to a plethora of scores. The centres, Tom Northey at 12 and Davey Kirkpatrick at 13, hustled and bustled all game. They picked gaps; put those outside them into space and put in some scything tackles. The coach led from the front, channelling the spirit of Terry Butcher to send one Service player back to the sidelines with a crushing tackle. A power-packed performance at 15 from Matt Quinn with the speedsters of Sam Wilkinson and Davy Scott on the wings finished with panache.

Overall, the Dee put in ferocious hits in defence and carried with pace and power. At every turn each man dared Service to tackle them or run at them. Eventually their opponents wilted in the face of the dominance of the collective red and green machine. A winning scoreline of 62-10 was pleasing but the desire showed to keep scoring and to keep fronting up was more satisfying.

It is important not to get carried away but this was a great start to the season. There are a couple of areas to work on. On the day the 2s weren’t overly tested but how this team responds to sterner challenges is a question that will have to be answered on another day. If this team continues to put in the effort that it has so far then it will meet that challenge head on.

Finally, the 2s would like to thank everyone in the club who has worked so hard to allow training and matches to take place. We very much appreciate your efforts. We hope to show you that it was all worthwhile by doing the Dee proud both on and off the pitch.