The Dee travelled to play Newry on Saturday for their final league game of the season. With several players absent due to injury and unavailability the Dee line up showed a few changes from the previous week.

The starting pack of forwards were all 22 years old or younger apart from player coach Ray Dobson. Fraser Fulton, who made his debut last week off the bench, started in the back row alongside Ryan Butler and Ollie McCormac.

Captain Matthew Stockton had a rare outing at outhalf and Sam Ingham escaped from the forwards to take up a position in the centre alongside Carter Long whilst the full back role was filled by Adam Russell.

The rain had eased off as the game started but the moist conditions were to test both team’s handling skills throughout. The first half was a scrappy affair with both sides guilty of errors that resulted in a plethora of scrums. Playing with the strong breeze at their back Newry saw plenty of possession but Dee’s defence stood firm with Bryn McCartney chopping effectively and some big hits going in from Dylan Robinson and young Fulton.

The deadlock was broken as the half came to an end when Sam Moore pounced on a loose ball inside his own half. The big second row took off like a gazelle, cutting inside the winger and then the fullback to score under the posts. Stockton converted to give the Dee a 7-0 lead at half time.

The Dee doubled their lead after only three minutes of the second half when Sam Ingham released Adam Russell on the right and the fullback zig-zagged his way towards the Newry line. With only a couple of metres to go he was brought down by a high tackle and the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try. Dee were now in the ascendancy and scored a brace of tries in the middle of the half.

After several phases of play took the Dee into the Newry 22 the ball went out to Sam Ingham who drew the defender and slipped the ball to his centre partner allowing him to run through to score. Five minutes later it was Stockton who crashed over from a ruck close to the Newry line after good work from the forwards.

To their credit Newry did not let their heads drop and continued to put the effort in to try and stop the Dee adding to their total. However, with five minutes remaining the Dee scored their final try of the game. McCormack picked up from the back of a scrum and made ground before finding Sam Ingham in support. He sucked in a couple of defenders before passing inside to Robbie Ingham who dived over to score. Stockton maintained his 100% success rate with the conversion to leave the final score 35-0 to the Dee.

This has been an excellent season for this young Dee team, finishing a creditable third in the league and reaching a final at the Kingspan. All the players in the squad can be proud of their efforts and can now look forward to some rest and relaxation over the next few weeks.