2011-04-09 / / :
City of Derry RFC 38 Ballymoney 13
City of Derry RFC 38pts, Ballymoney 13pts
City of Derry Rugby Club welcomed Ballymoney to Judges Road on Saturday once again needing to win and also score four try’s in the process to stay in sync with they rivals Armagh in the quest to retain their Kukri Ulster Qualifying League Title. Ballymoney were always going to prove that their position of third in the league table was well deserved and they did not disappoint, especially with a first half display that had the Derry supporters on tenterhooks as they held a 6pts to nil lead going into the thirty fifth minute of the first half.
There was always going to be a special edge to this game with Ballymoney having two former City of Derry players from last season in their ranks namely Danny Platt in the second row and Aaron Ramage at loose head prop. When you add the inspirational experienced Jason Tagger to the Toon mix then they were going to ask serious questions of City of Derry’s resolve to dig deep for the requisite victory.
Ballymoney took the game to Derry early and as the first half progressed possession was shared. Derry were forced to defend on their own line and had it not been for their superb patience and well drilled defensive system the visitors could have well been ahead by the time James Cleland converted their first penalty on thirty minutes. Cleland added to Toon’s advantage five minutes later with another well struck penalty.
Derry suddenly clicked into their stride and after Captain Bob McKillop drove forward and was held up ten meters from the line, the ball was moved to centre David Founston who opened the scoring for Derry with a try converted by out half Mark O’Connor. The genie was let out of the bottle and it suddenly was all Derry, play was brought inside the Ballymoney twenty two meter line and Derry produced an overlap and when Andrew Semple fed O’Connor who then picked out Simon Logue the try was on and Logue obliged. Mark O’Connor converted to give Derry a 14pts to 6pts lead at half time.
City of Derry’s confidence was high going into the second half and Derry quickly set about dismantling Ballymoney after the interval with a ruthless efficiency. Stephen Simms Man of the Match was everywhere for Derry and was playing his best game for some time. Three minutes in, the impressive Sam McAuley stole possession in midfield allowing O’Connor to kick forward. With the Ballymoney backs making a meal of the clearance, Jared Bennett stole in to chase down his own kick and score Derry’s third try.
The elusive fourth try looked a certainty when Bob McKillop drove forward from his own half to the Ballymoney 22m line on an iconic driving run that struck fear into the opposition but more importantly was inspirational to his own players. The resulting scrum saw Stephen Corr pick and drive McKillop like for the line and fed Andrew Semple who scored a memorable unconverted try, game over.
With the bonus point in the bag Derry drove forward again for more and on 55 minutes they scored a fifth try, Funston secured possession, Sam Duffy played scrum half and fed Semple who missed out a couple of players with a floated pass to set up full back Peter Henderson for another flowing Derry score. Another O’Connor conversion gave Derry a 33-6 lead.
Derry’s sixth try arrived on the hour courtesy of Cathal Cregan who had put in an assured performance since replacing the unfortunate Witherow, the young hooker finishing off a driving forward move after Derry had gone through the gears inside the visitors 22. Despite O’Connor striking the post with the conversion, Derry’s dominance was now being translated onto the scoreboard at 38-6.
Ballymoney did grab a late consolation try through Chris Watson after Cregan had been very harshly sin-binned but along with Cleland’s conversion, it was too little, too late.
City of Derry Team: David Witherow, Sam McAuley, Sam Duffy, David Houston, Bob McKillop, Karl Gemmell, Stephen Sims, Stephen Corr, Andrew Semple, Mark O’Connor, Josh Lewis, Jared Bennett, David Funston, Simon Logue, Peter Henderson. Subs; Cathal Cregan, Mark Walker.
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