City of Derry Rugby Club produced a workman like performance to secure a bonus point victory away to Ballynahinch on Saturday last in their Ulster Senior League Fixture. This result sees Derry sharing second place in the league with Belfast Harlequins just six points behind leaders Dungannon. Derry scored two try’s in each half with Peter Henderson having his first start since returning from injury scoring the try of the game half way through the first half.
The conditions at Mountview Road were very cold and damp with a strong wind blowing across the pitch throughout the game which made it difficult for players especially at line out time. Derry started with a slight wind advantage and were soon on top territorially thanks to strong driving play from a lively pack where Sam Duffy, Chris Shields, Gareth Beattie and David Houston produce some strong drives to keep Ballynahinch on the back foot. Richard McCarter kicked two penalties on five and seven minutes for an early Derry lead following Hinch infringements at the breakdown.
It was all Derry early on as their scrum dominated throughout, their pack again produced on 13 minutes when three quick ruck balls courtesy of the back row where Johnny Lyons was making his debut and he along with Stephen Ferguson and Stephen Corr got quick ball for Andrew Semple to find Captain Sam McAuley loitering with intent on the wing to crash over for an unconverted try beating two men in the process and Derry lead by 11pts to nil.
Ballnahinch got some decent possession eventually and pulled themselves back into the game when Derry infringed on 20 minutes, Lash converted the resultant penalty and the score was 11pts to 3pts for Derry. Hinch came straight back at Derry from the kick-off and good back play allowed outside centre McCormick in for an unconverted try on 21 minutes to reduce the arrears to 8pts to 11pts. Derry once again rose to the challenge and David Funston, Adam Bratton and Simon Logue produced flashes of outstanding attacking play. Pressure told on Ballynahinch when they had their hooker sin binned after 25 minutes.
The try of the game came on 32 minutes when the Derry forwards led by McAuley and supported by Houston, Lyons, Corr and Beattie got quality ball to produce a flowing movement through the heart of the Hinch defense. Sam Duffy drove forward and when stopped found Simon Logue who got in behind the defense and with Hinch in disarray Andrew Semple found Peter Henderson to mark his return to competitive rugby whit an excellent team try which left the score at 16pts to 8 pts for Derry which was carried to half time.
Ballynahinch started the second half in positive fashion and within 5 minutes their forwards had got in for an unconverted try which put just 3 pts between the sides with Derry leading by 16pts to 13pts. Derry came right back at Hinch and excellent play on 7 minutes from Henderson, Funston and Bratton allowed McCarter to release winger William McCleery to show pace and power to score a real wingers try and with McCarter converting Derry had pulled 23pts to 13pts clear. Ballynahinch came straight back at Derry and sustained pressure again saw their centre McCormick get in for an unconverted try and it was 23pts to 18pts for Derry.
Derry were always dangerous when they got inside the Hinch 22 meters and good lineout ball from Houston was the platform for a training ground move on 15 minutes when McCarter did a switch with McCleery coming in from the wing and with the gap produced William McCleery touched down between the posts and with McCarter again converting it was 30pts to 18pts for Derry with the fourth try scored and the bonus point in the bag.
City of Derry Coaches Bevan Lynch and Mark Nicholl unloaded the bench as they looked to next week and a trip to Clonakilty in West Cork to start their next series of All Ireland league Division 2A games. The remaining 25 minutes of the game did not produce anymore scoring but it did see some outstanding defense from Derry with Mike Ryan, Cathal Creggan, Stephen Ferguson and Stephen Corr outstanding.
City of Derry Head Coach Bevan Lynch said after the game “ I was pleased with our performance today our first since we defeated Ballymena on New Years Eve and it was good to get the cobwebs out of the system. We defended really well as a unit and our line speed was impressive. We have a few very important games coming up in the AIL over the next few weeks which will determine how good a season we are going to have and we can look forward with confidence after today. I was pleased with our back play at times but we have work to do, our players have a good work ethic and I feel we will improve as the remainder of the season progresses”.
City of Derry RFC Team V Ballynahinch: Chris Shields, Sam McAuley, Sam Duffy, David Houston, Gareth Beatty, Stephen Corr, Johnny Lyons, Stephen Ferguson, Andrew Semple, Richard McCarter, Simon Logue, David Funston, Adam Bratton, William McCleery, Peter Henderson. Replacements: Cathal Cregan, Mike Ryan, Adam Parke, Ryan Campbell, Richard Peoples
