Dromore see off Coleraine students

DROMORE made the journey north on Saturday last to face the students of Coleraine University in a Qualifying League 1 fixture.

Dromore played the first half with a slight wind and slope advantage and made an early infringement by UUC pay as Steenson kicked a fine penalty to put the visitors three points up.

Dromore controlled the play and went through the phases, the pack set up a good platform with Adam McDonald and Roderick Dalton running strong lines, and when Dromore out-half Matty Russell found Blair McDonald with a miss pass the young winger sped forward and stepped the cover defence to score beside the posts, Steenson added the extras and Dromore were in control.

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Dromore continued to dominate the possession and had further try attempts by Andy Black and Frazer Mulholland declined by the referee, before Harshaw stormed over from close range to score, Steenson converted again and Dromore hit the break 17-0 ahead.

The students kicked off the second half and began for the first time to gain a foothold in the game, and had soon registered their first points with an early penalty.

Dromore seemed to relax and found the stop start refereeing style difficult to come to terms with. A fine move from the dangerous UUC backline saw them score in the corner and add the conversion to change the momentum of the game.

Dromore brought on Adam McGregor and Sammy Russell at this stage to shake things up a little, and Russell made a great start by tackling his opposite number, but to the crowd’s amazement the referee ruled that the tackle was illegal and gave Russell a yellow card.

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UUC made the one man advantage count and scored again in the corner following a charged down kick, the conversion attempt went narrowly wide and Dromore found themselves 17-15 ahead with 10 minutes left on the clock.

UUC continued to throw everything at the young Dromore side but they held firm and their defence held out, a fine run out of defense by Aaron Stewart, set up Dromore to attack in the closing moments of the match but the pack kept possession of the ball and ran the clock down to hold on for an important away win.

President Denis Savage was delighted with the win. He said,“I am thrilled our boys held on to claim victory today.

“It was close at the end but we are happy to be heading home with four points.

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“The coaches are working the boys very hard at training and its paying off in close matches like today, we have a few big matches coming our way before Christmas starting with Ballymoney at Barban Hill next week and I’m excited with the progress we have made so far this season.””