Donaghadee travelled the short distance to Holywood on Saturday for a league encounter against their North Down neighbours. The Dee were without their talismanic player coach, Ray Dobson, who had returned to New Zealand following the untimely death of his sister. The team wore “patea blue” on their sleeves as a mark of respect.

The sidelines were graced with a fine array of Dee supporters as the home team kicked off in perfect conditions for rugby at this time of year - no wind, a chill in the air and a slightly moist pitch. The initial exchanges were scrappy as both teams struggled to retain possession of the ball. Dee gave away a number of penalties with the hosts opting to gain terriority rather than attempting to get the score board moving.

The game swung into life on 12 mins. Rudy Ioasa ran 30 yds with the ball, after some great work by the returning Mathew Stockton, before passing to Ryan Butler who carried the ball deep into the oppositions 22 before he passed to Nathan Boyd. The ball was then played by Boyd out to his left and Sam Ingham finished a fine team move by scoring under the posts. The 2 extra points were kicked by Mathew Pentland and Dee were 7-0 ahead.

It was on 20 mins when Dee scored their second try. Robbie Ingham made a great break down the wing before being tackled. However, Chris Scott was on hand to complete the move and cross the line for a try. Pentland missed the subsequent kick.

Dee had several more chances but continued to frustrate themselves with poor handling and decision making. Eventually, Dee scored their third try on 33 mins when they scored after a great scrum 5 yds out and Harry McCracken side stepped his opposite number to score under posts. The score was converted by Pentland to give the Dee a 19-0 lead at half time.

The second half got under way and it wasn’t long until the Dee were reduced to 14 players when the Dee winger was adjudged to have led with the forearm. The reduction in players however did not hamper the away team. McCracken spun a 30 yard pass to Pentland who then made a fantastic break and by carrying the ball in two hands he gave the home team no indication as to which way he might pass. Pentland was supported brilliantly and unselfishly by Stockton and Aaron McKee either side of him but he opted not to pass as he slalomed his way through the defence and scored under the posts. He then converted his own try and Dee had a try scoring bonus point secured.

Dee then scored another try, despite still being down to 14 men, when Stockton broke through the defensive line before offloading to Daniel Onswetter who scored under the posts. Strangely, the conversion was missed.

With Dee back to 15 players it was the home team who were reduced to 14 when they received a yellow on 70 mins. As the game dragged itself towards full time the away team managed one last try.

A flowing move, with the ball effortlessly going through Dee hands, ended up with the veteran Ben Siri on the wing. He rolled back the years and showed the Holywood defence a clean pair of heels as he raced into the corner to score to make the final score 36-0 to the Dee.

A few contenders for man of the match this week including the returning Matthew Stockton and Dylan Robinson, however, the award goes to the ageless Davy Skipp who put in a great 80 minute shift of scrummaging, tackling and winning turnovers and is a fantastic role model to the younger lads in the team. Overall, Dee will be delighted with the bonus point win, however, lots to improve on during training this week before they play the same opponents at Donaldson Park next week. K.O 2.30pm