North Down Women beaten in Junior Cup

On Friday (19th Nov) evening the team received sad news of the passing of the former Donaghadee Women’s Rugby Coach Nigel Hamilton. Nigel was instrumental in the development of Women’s Rugby at Donaghadee, and had a hand in the formation of the North Down Women’s Rugby team. Nigel will be sadly missed by all the girls at Donaghadee, and our thoughts are with his wife Valerie, daughter Ellen and family circle at this difficult time.

With both players and coaches determined to turn things around after their previous trip up the M2 a few weeks ago, and the sad news of the passing of former coach Nigel Hamilton this was set to be an exciting and emotional match.

The contest got under way with Megan Galogly fielding the Randalstown KO and going straight on the offensive with a strong carry back up towards half way. The ball was quickly recycled and Half back Eamear Campbell cleared the lines putting the ball safely into touch just inside the Randalstown Half. From the ensuing lineout Randalstown showed intent by putting width on the ball giving their outside centre a chance to break deep into the visitor’s territory only to be stopped short by Amy Harris on the left wing. Ball was recycled quickly and Randalstown set up a series of rucks which eventually resulted in Northdown being penalised for going off side. Randalstown went for the quick tap and using their big forwards crashed over for an unconverted try.

At the restart Randalstown knocked. From the scrum the ball was whipped across the back line to full back Mollie Moore who was bundled into touch just inside the Randalstown 22 meter line. The next few minutes were played out between the two 10 meter lines before Randalstown made another break into ND territory. Angie Eadie playing at inside centre turned over ball in the ruck. Two quick passes and the ball was safely kicked ahead by Campbell. Again Mollie Moore showed her pace by tackling the winger and recovering the ball on the ground. Another strong carry from Gallogly took play deep into the home sides 22. The ball was again shifted across the backline and with one simple miss pass Natasha Brown was put clear to score in the right corner for Northdown. Score 5-5

The Randalstown Restart was caught cleanly by Courtney Jamison who off loaded to captain Danielle Perry. Who set the ruck for Campbell to clear the lines. Some outstanding pressure in defence from ND resulted in a knock on by Randallstown in the centre of the field. From the Scrum ND again opted to move the ball wide giving Eadie an opportunity to break the first line of defence. Ball was quickly recycled and again shifted out toward the left wing where Campbell made a break being stopped only 5 meters from the line. Scrum half Georgina Montgomery picked the ball and powered past her opposite number to score in the left corner. Score 5-10

The next period of the game was again played out between the 10 meter lines with both sides making minor incursions into opposition territory. Northdown continued to play some really solid rugby with huge tackles from Michelle Presho in the centre, Amy Harris on the left wing and Kaye Jenkins in the second row. At the same time forwards Pauline Moore, Victoria Presho and the ever present Megan Galogly continued to trouble the Randalstown defence with some great surging ball carries. Randalstown finally gained the upper hand when they were awarded a penalty at the breakdown. Again they looked to their forwards who set up a series of rucks eventually crashing over to the right of the posts for their second try.

This seemed to lift Randalstown in confidence with them scoring two more tries just before half time. The Randalstown outside centre was instrumental in both scores, setting up their out half with a lovely offload for the first one, and then breaking clear herself for the second one.
Half time score 20 - 10

The opening period of the second half played out much like the middle part of the first half with both teams looking to find gaps in the opposition defensive line. This period of play eventually came to an end when there was a stoppage for an injury just inside the ND 22 meter. The game was restarted with a Randalstown put in to the scrum. The number 8 picked form the base and made a surging run to score an unconverted try to the left of the posts.

Randalstown secured the Kick off and went through a number of phases to work their way back up to the half way. ND continued to press hard in defence constantly pressurising their opponents. In one tackle Stacey Marshall ripped the ball and rolled clear of the contact. Looking for space she worked across the park finally being awarded for her efforts when the referee blew for a high tackle from a Randalstown player. Randalstown stole the ball at the front of the resulting lineout and set to the task of working their way back out of the danger zone. Kaye Jenkins put in yet another thumping tackle giving Victoria Presho the perfect opportunity to win the penalty when she latched onto the ball in the ruck. This time Mollie Moore stepped up and went for the tap and go, where she twisted and turned getting almost within touching distance of the line before being stopped. Pauline Moore picked from the back of the ruck and, assisted by Sam Lowry, drove over the line to score, putting ND right back into contention at 25-15

The final period of the game saw Randalstown put sustained pressure on the Northdown defence as they went back to their forwards to do the hard yards. In the dying minutes the visitors appeared to have weathered the storm when the ball was knocked on in contact following yet another thumping tackle from Jenkins. From the scrum Campbell looked to kick the ball into space for Mollie Moore to run onto. Yet again though the Randalstown outside centre proved to be a thorn in the side for Northdown when she gathered the loose ball and found a gap in the defensive line. She was again stopped short by a cover tackle from Amy Harris and Fiona Milligan, but managed to place the ball for her inside centre to pick and finish the move.
Final score 30-15

This weekend Northdown host Queens 2nds in the league at Upritchard Park on Saturday afternoon. KO at 3:30pm.

[Report courtesy of Gary Presho]