Larne Go Top of Table With BP Win over Dee

The home side started in similar fashion as to how they have the last few games, playing a high tempo pace of rugby and taking the opposition by surprise. As the forward pack gave yet another solid base at scrum and line-out, it allowed the back line to exploit the open field and spread the ball wide. As the Larne men moved the ball from one side of the pitch to the other, the older ‘Dee side could not cope with the pace, McIlheron elusively side-stepped to on-coming defenders and gave a delicate pass to Burns who glided away from the cover defence to dot down under the posts. Andrews was to duly convert to give the home side an early lead.

The men in red came back hard from the kick off, great carries from Hunter and Cole gave great field position and it was not long until Garrett exploited an empty blind side to go in untouched in the corner. Andrews was unfortunate to miss the conversion out wide but soon followed up with a penalty of his own to give the Larne men a 15-0 lead approaching half time.

As the visitors started to work their way back into the game, some indiscipline gave them an opportunity to get their first points on the board before the sound of the half time whistle. Their out half had no problem putting the ball between the posts to give ‘Dee a boost going into the half time break although they were trailing 15-3.

The past few games have seen Larne go in at half time with a healthy advantage and struggle to continue with the run of play in the twenty minutes after half time, this week was to be no different. The home side seemed to go into their shell and allow Donaghadee to come back into the game. As the visitors dominated field position and possession, it was not long before their heavy pack set up a solid rolling maul which was to be unstopped and get their first try of the day.

This seemed to spur the visitors on and they could feel a comeback was on the cards. Solid defence, notably from Jamison and Gibson, made sure that the visitors were held out as they pressured the Larne line. As the home side finally escaped up field, they were awarded a penalty for some fowl play which saw the opposing scrum half spend ten minutes on the sideline. Andrews calmly stepped up to add another three points from distance to take the scoreline to 18-8. However, a converted try soon followed for Donaghadee as Larne made a mess at the restart, as phase after phase took its toll on the home defence, the ‘Dee pack soon crashed over to bring the scores back to 18-15.

Larne knew they had to up their game if they were to secure the win and have any chance of a bonus point, and that they did. As the pack gave another solid base at scrum, the ball was spread wide to Burns who ghosted away from the Donaghadee defence, brushing off a number of would-be tacklers and race away under the posts to give some breathing space. As the score sat at 25-18 with only a few seconds left on the clock, the bonus point was all to play for both sides.

Larne were awarded a penalty which Garrett took quickly, managing to evade the ‘Dee defence and sneak in at the corner to secure the 5 pointer for the side and see them go top of the league, final score 32-15.

A great performance by the home men needs to be backed up next week as they welcome Qualifying 1 side Clogher Valley in the second round of the Junior Cup.