The young Dromore team rose to the challenge and won the game 6 3 putting in a display full of heart and commitment.  From 1 to 15 every player put himself on the line and played as if there was more a stake than just league points.  Rory Pepper in only his third game this season rallied the team from number 8 and lead by example from  start to finish.

For most of the first half both teams cancelled out each other and scoring was limited to a penalty each as a mixture of poor handling, bad decision making and strong defense denied both teams try scoring opportunities.  A Lee Steenson penalty had given Dromore the lead but this was cancelled before half time by the visitors. The second half was full of incident but again neither team was able to stamp their authority on the game and the only score came from  a second Steenson penalty.  Dromore did cross the opposition line twice but were deemed by the referee not to have grounded the ball.  The final ten minutes were played out in the Dromore half as Portadown applied immense pressure but the home team’ s defense held out.

This was a true team effort with every player putting in a performance worthy of mention and rather than do that I will just say that all the players should be proud of their effort and well done.  Dromore must now wait on results elsewhere.  The ifs and buts where fully discussed after the game and relegation is still not out of the equation.  Hopefully results from the other teams will go in our favour.

From that point on things did not go Dromore’s way.  Stuart Russell was yellow carded for playing the ball on the ground and CI scored from the resultant penalty.  Down to fouteen Dromore then conceded an unconverted try to lose the lead and  just before half time Ryan Kerr was red carded.  Now down to thirteen and only six in the pack Dromore were up against it and the CI pack began to dominate.

Adam McDonald who had dominated his opposite number all match picked up an ankle injury and was replaced by George Wilson.  Just before Stuart Russell could return to the action the CI flanker intercepted a loose pass and ran from just inside his own half for a try that was unconverted.   Dromore continued to use the rolling maul to great effect but some spirited defence from CI held them out.  On two occasions Dromore did cross the visitors line but could not ground the ball.

Eventually the extra man began to tell and CI came more and more into the game.  As the Dromore heads dropped CI added a number of tries some the result of good play and others down to poor tackling from Dromore.  The final score of 32 7 was not really a fair reflection of the game but when you are dominating a game you really must take every opportunity and that is exactly what CI did.



P2 &3 squads held their own against taller opposition but held their defensive lines when Holywood took control of the ball.

After some lose ball David Craig burst through the line and was helped by Jacob Marshall and Corbin Turner to score.

Holywood came to life after this and scored a few more before Angus Crawford scored for Dromore

Other players worthy of note from your secret reporter are Nathan Hook and Jordan Wilson who were able to pass the ball to each other and off loaded it to a very quick James Pepper who scored at will in any of the games he played in. Well done boys.

P4 Squad of 8 players played their hearts out against a very mobile set of Holywood boys but the recent coaching course in Armagh shone through as our boys weaved some magic with slick ball handling skills that would have impressed the 1^st team coach at Dromore.

The Pepper boys Rueben Copes and Curtis Forbes have been listening to Coaches Beckett Gault and Bradfield as the four linked up well in all aspects of their games. A big contributing factor for the P4 team was the eager duo of Ben Linton and James Gault who got stuck in and rucked the ball bag at every opportunity.

P5

This team go from strength to strength with some well worked tapped penalties and ball handling from Katie McDonald Harry Wilson and Bradlee Steenson these guys stamped their authority all over Holywood. The team seemed to score at will Steve and Barry must have been on cloud nine after this blistering performance from the whole team.

P6

Xander Lowem Scott Wilson James Duffy Jack Hennesy Adam Hanna and Ben Malcomson.

Remember these names this happy band of rugby players strung pass after pass together and helped their team score at will on Saturday morning. Your touchline reporter was so impressed he told Steve Wilson and Nigel Dale to go and look how well they played their rugby the communication between them and the other players in their team was breath taking.

The best tacklers of the morning however went to Lewis Sproule and Christopher Wiggam who caught their opponents around the ankles over and over which helped their team win back the ball and score.

P7

The Holywood opposition have been this Dromore team’s nemesis all through Mini rugby.

The teams lined up at the start of the match and led by Connor Woods at scrum half and Samuel Stevenson as pack leader they took the game to Holywood from the start. Quick Ball from the back of the ruck and passed deftly out through he hands of Jack Dillon and  Ashley Beckett saw Dromore score first, straight after the kick off Richard Dickson ,who was making his comeback after a two year lay off through injury  weaved his way through the approaching Holywood team and slipped the ball to Rhys Dale just as he was tackled who in turn passed it to Aaron Lyttle to score in the corner.

Dean Dillon came on for Dromore as scrum half in the second match and with darting runs and quick hands to Ross Smyth saw score. Holywood were not to be out done and pressured the Dromore line for most of the second match but a swift boot down field from Jack Dillon who gathered his own kick and side stepped 6 Holywood players as if they were standing still scored what had to be the

 Try of the season.

Well done to all the players and travelling supporters who came for the Rugby and not IKEA which was just across the road.

Next Week Dromore Mini Eagles are home to Banbridge which both teams look forward to each year lets hope it’s a great day.

Dromore Minis would like to Wish the Dromore High School under Medallion team all the best of luck for their Semi Final Match in the Medallion Shield against Wallace this Saturday 3 March.

Match reports to follow.

Dromore had a number of opportunities to get on the scoreboard but a mixture of poor passing and poor decision making removed the chances.  Limavady scored a try in either half converting one to take the game.  The second try was an interception with Dromore pressing to level the game.  This score seemed to deflate the home team and in the end Limavady were deserved winners.

P2 and P3 coaches had their hands full with cold hands and runny noses as their teams played in the more extreme parts of the Lisburn pitch with gale force winds wreaking havoc with the odd hat and toupee being blown away. Phillip Wright and Mark Robinson struggled on and their P3 team came up trumps once again with super ball play and fast hands to score a brace of tries.

P4s Pepper boys scored at will with lack lustre defence from Lisburn but strong support from Ruari Mitchell, Ben Linton and Curtis Forbes helped Dromore keep the pressure on Lisburn right through to the end.   Man of the Match had a split decision from the side line selectors so it went to Reuben Copes and James Gault well done boys super tackling all day make sure you see BIG Nigel for some sort of well deserved treat.

P5 and P6 seemed to play against Lisburn teams who didn’t want to be there because of the cold and who could blame them with most of their supporters in the club house enjoying the friendly hospitality of Lisburn Mini Mums and our Dromore Mums and Dads

P5 Scott Wilson broke the all time scoring record which he set at the start of the season at 9 tries, smashing it by another 2 well done Scott 11 tries in a match you to see Director of Youth  Rugby for another certificate.  P5 seemed to rub the referee up the wrong way with lots of very harsh decision your off pitch reporter though he was refereeing an International match but fair play to Coach Wilson he was not upset and just encouraged his and Barry Sternsons team to score at will well done all concerned!!  Rhys Grey Joel Cromie and Adam Whitten are going from strength to strength this season their Backs coach Martin Hennessey has to be commended in the boys improvement this season.

P7 Team were short on numbers on Saturday but the harsh winter condition didn’t seemed to faze them as they scored at will in their first match against Lisburn Kittens but the second match against the Lisburn Pussycats was a different kettle of fish all together.  Superb tackling from Ross Smyth and Dean Dillon kept the try count down to single figures.  Great running and a supreme effort from Aaron Lyttle saw him surge over for a well deserved try followed by BIG SAM Stevenson who is a power house in the scrum. The 3rd Match saw a closer contest with Dromore playing Lisburn a mixture of Kittens and Furrballs.   Jared Rush and Caleb Harper opened up with two well executed trys from the ruck.  Dean Dillon who was back to form with his organisational skills and constant shouting scored two tries.   Ashley Beckett and Rhys Dale worked well together in the loose and helped Sam Fairley to a hat trick of tries.

Well done to all the boys and girls who played supported and did taxi driver last weekend.

Remember this weekend we are away to Dungannon buses will depart the club at 9.15am sharp so be up early players will get first preference and if there are spaces left supporters will be welcome we hope to return to Dromore for 12.30pm.

 The U13s took on what can only be described as a Cavan pack that could have played for the Irish 6 Nations side this weekend, but Ervin McKinstry coached the guys into great defensive tackling which resulted in 0-0 at half time.

Mathew Brush and David Lyttle showed the home side a clean pair of heels and should have scored comfortably under the posts had it not been for a superb flying tackle by Cavan’s full back which resulted in a knock on, two hands on the ball is always the best policy!!

Great passion for rucks and mauls from both teams kept the score board attendant in the club house as neither team could pass the ball out to the backs before a handling error called them back, with only a minute left in the match the Cavan wing forward dropped the ball onto the ground and with the sweetest of kicks gave the home side a drop goal which Dromore could not come back from.

Well played boys a super performance we look forward to watching it again in the upcoming cup matches.

 The under 15s won handsomely against a well drilled Cavan team who again must have been kept in the dark in grow bags.

The elusive hands of Adam McDonald and side stepping Adam Reany saw the travelling side score a few tries in the first half. The second half went the same as the first but the pack got into the scoring and with expert manoeuvring of the scrum let Ross Bingham and Ryan Hughes in for two tries. Full back David Pyper has found his niche this season and is making the position his own if he would only look up once in a while for the support around him he would score more tries but well done for stamping your authority on this game.

Well played the whole team we look forward to a great cup campaign this year and maybe some silver ware (No Pressure)

This Friday Night sees Dromore Youths Open Mike and Disco night up at the Rugby Club 7.30pm to 11 15pm £4 at the Door BUT if you play for Dromore Youth Rugby or the Dromore Under 16s Hockey teams admission is £3.

Dromore were finding it difficult to get any ball against the bigger Portadown pack and only a brave defensive effort prevented the home team posting a larger first half score.  Portadown added a penalty before half time to go 22 0 in front.  Dromore made a better start to the second half but could not breach Portadown’s defense and managaed to deny them the extra bonus point score they were looking for until the final five minutes of the game.  With the Dromore team having tackled themselves to a standstill the home side added two more tries in the dying minutes of the game.

This was a brave effort by all the team against larger and more physical opponents and the positive that we can take is that the team is still very young and inexperienced and should over the next year or two develop in both those areas.

Dromore started with the strong wind advantage and immediately put the home team into their 22 with a penalty to touch.  From the ensuing lineout Michael Harshaw seized a loose ball and charged over the line brushing aside two defenders.  John Russell added the conversion from a difficult angle and Dromore were 7 points up with less than 5 minutes on the clock.  The score seemed to waken Limavaday and they enjoyed most of the possession for the remainder of the half but strong Dromore defence allied to some poor handling by the home team resulted in them not being able to get a score.  Just when it looked as though the visitors would reach half time safely Limavady breached their defence and scored a deserved try which was unconverted.  7 5 to Dromore and Limavady looked to be in the driving seat now havng use of the wind.

Dromore had other ideas and from the kick off took the game to the home team.  Aaron Stewart looked to have scored but spilled the ball in a tackle as he crossed the line.  Dromore now seemed to have got the journey out of their system and were dominating all areas but were unable to find a way across the opposition line.  The pressure eventually resulted in a kickable penalty but Dromore opted to run the ball.  The Limavady defence held out the initial attack but conceded a five metre scrum and after the Dromore pack applied pressure Lee Steenson darted over for a typical scrum half score.  The conversion was missed to leave Dromore 12 5 in front.  Dromore immediately returned to the Limavady 22 and their pressure resulted in another penalty.  Having  dominated the scrum in the second half Dromore took this option but the Limavady pack put in a tremendous effort and drove Dromore off the ball.  This effort lifted the home team and they took play into the Dromore half and only some strong tackling by Dromore held them out.  On a now rare excursion into the Limavady half Dromore gained another penalty.  The points would have put Dromore two scores in front but the kick was missed.  This miss seemed to give the home team heart and they again attacked strongly this time scoring their second try after Dromore eventually ran out of defenders.  The conversion was missed and with the score at 12 10 it was crucial that Dromore did not concede any further penalties within kicking range.  This they managed to do until the last move of the game when the referee judged that a Limavady player had been spear tackled.  Both sets of supporters held their breath as the Limavady fullback attempted the conversion.  Fortunately for Dromore he missed and the referee blew for full time.

This was a nervous performance by this very young Dromore team but it is some years since any Dromore side has won in Limavady so they should be pleased with the result.  Attention now turns to the league next Saturday when fellow strugglers Academy visit Barbanhill.