Henry Foster lines up alongside his dad Simon for Donegal Town RFC

Donegal Town under new management with Gareth Marsis and Kez McKeown now in charge were keen to get things off to a positive start and put the weeks of training into practice as they welcomed Stranbane for a pre-season encounter. 

Donegal Town 16
Strabane 15 

Donegal welcomed new players to the Holmes with Ben Bednall and Carl McCarry making their first start for the club. Henry Foster, now playing senior rugby for the club along with his dad Simon, who also togged out to follow in the footsteps of Liam and Marc Brown and Sean Gillespie and sons in playing together for the club. 

Strabane travelled with an experienced panel of players and got off to a good start with some strong plays and some good handling as they tried to assert dominance over Donegal who will be playing in a lower division in the league. Donegal defended rigidly but Strabane forced their way over the line for the first try early in the game but failed to score from the conversion. 

Donegal settled down after conceding the try and played a lot of good rugby with slick handling in the backs and strong running and ball retention from the forwards. Donegal began to dominate the game and they were rewarded when Gareth McMurray scored a hard-earned try which was converted by Peteso Cannon.

Donegal retained possession well and continued to press for the line and were unlucky not to score in the corner before the break. However, Donegal were awarded a penalty which Peteso converted and was followed by a penalty from Benny Mundy while Strabane were reduced in numbers following a yellow card. 

The game continued at a high tempo despite the sweltering heat and Strabane fought hard to get back into the game and were rewarded with a try heading into the last 10 minutes but didn’t convert the kick. Another penalty from Peteso left the score 16-10 in Donegal’s favour with time running out and Strabane continued to press the Donegal line but some massive tackles from the backs and forwards kept them out until the last few minutes when the scored in the corner again to bring it back to 16-15.

Fortunately for Donegal, Strabane missed the kick and the score stayed the same to the end. Kez Mckeown was rewarded for some strong work in both attack and defence with the Shaka StreetFood Man of the Match. 

It was a great team performance from Donegal and bodes well for the season ahead when the league starts with the first game at home to Rainey RFC on September 3.